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I 

E.  S.  Library.  Ccp.  2.  '  "~ 

CONNECTICUT 

in©*  is^t 

AGRICULTURAL  EXPERIMENT  STATION 

NEW    HAVEN,    CONN. 


BULLETIN  154,  SEPTEMBER,  1906 

Forestry    Publication    No.  2 

CHESTNUT  IN  CONNECTICUT 

AND 

THE  IMPROVEMENT  OF  THE  WOODLOT 


AUSTIN  F.   HA  WES,  M.F. 

State   and  Station  Forester 


The  Bulletins  of  this  Station  are  mailed  free  to.  citizens  of  Con- 
necticut who  apply  for  them,  and  to  others  as  far  as  the  editions 
permit. 


CONNECTICUT  AGRICULTURAL  EXPERIMENT   STATION. 

OFFICERS    AUSTID    STAFF. 


BOARD   OF   CONTROL. 
His  Excellency,  Henry  Roberts,  Ex  officio,  President. 

Prof.  F.  G.  Benedict  ■ Middletown. 

Prof.  W.  H-  Brewer,  Secretary   New  Haven. 

B.  W.  Collins    Meriden. 

Edwin  Hoyt   New  Canaan. 

Charles  M.  Jarvis   Berlin. 

J.  H.  Webb Hamden. 

E.  H.  Jenkins,  Director  and  Treasurer New  Haven. 


STATION    STAFF. 

C  lie  mists. 

Analytical  Laboratory. 

A.  L.  Winton,  Ph.D.,  Chemist  in  charge. 

E.  Monroe  Bailey,  M.S.  E.  J.  Shanley,  Ph.B. 

Kate  G.  Barber,  Ph.D.  J.  L.  Kreider,  M.A. 

Laboratory  for  the  Study  of  Proteids. 

T.  B.  Osborne,  Ph.D.,  Chemist  in  charge. 

Botanist. 

G.  P.  Clinton,  S.D. 

Entomologist. 

W.  E.  Britton,  Ph.D. 

Assistant  to  the  Entomologist. 

B.  H.  Walden,  B.Agr. 

Forester. 

Austin  F.  Hawes,  M.F.  * 

Agronomist. 

Edward  M.  East,  M.S. 

Grass  Gardener. 

James  B.  Olcott,  South  Manchester. 

Stenographers  and  Clerks. 

Miss  V.  E.  Cole. 

Miss  L.  M.  Brautlecht. 

In  charge  of  Buildings  and  Grounds. 

William  Veitch. 

Laboratory  Helper. 

Hugo  Lange. 

Sampling  Agent. 

V.  L.  Churchill,  New  Haven. 


PLATE  I. 


A  chestnut  tree  grown  from  seed,  Hampton,  Conn.  This  tree  was  83  feet 
high,  27  inches  in  diameter  and  103  years  old.  It  sawed  into  662  board  feet  of 
lumber.  It  occupied  900  square  feet,  so  that  it  would  be  possible  to  have  48 
such  trees  to  the  acre,  or  30,000  feet  of  lumber. 


CHESTNUT  IN  CONNECTICUT 

AND 

THE    IMPROVEMENT    OF    THE    WOODLOT. 

By  Austin  F.  Hawes,  M.F.,  State  and  Station  Forester. 


CONTENTS. 


Page. 

Preface    4 

Natural  History  of  a  Woodlot 7 

Improvement    Thinning 8 

Results  of  Improvement  Thinning 14 

Final  Harvest  of  the  Woodlot 15 

Timber    Estimating    16 

Volume  Tables 17 

Application  of  Volume  Tables 18 

Chestnut  Fuel  and  Ties 20 

Chestnut  Piles    22 

Telegraph  and  Telephone  Poles 23 

For  Lumber,  Board  Measure 25 

Lumbering   28 

Making  and  Hauling  Lumber    \ 28 

"        Ties    29 

"         Piles   and   Poles 30 

"        Cord   Wood    :  . . .  .  30 

Relative  Profit  from  Ties,  Piles,  Poles  and  Lumber 31 

Conclusions  as  to  Relative  Value  of  Different  Products, 32 

Rate  of  Growth  of  Chestnut 32 

Pleight  Growth 32 

Diameter  Growth   33 

Sprouting  of   Chestnut 37 

Best   Development    of    Chestnut 38 

Summary    39 

Assistance  given  to  Woodland  Owners 41 


PREFACE. 

The  woodland  of  Connecticut  is  largely  of  two  types :  pine 
forest  covering  abandoned  farms,  especially  in  the  northeastern 
part  of  the  State ;  and  young  sprout  forests  of  hardwoods  such 
as  the  various  oaks,  birches,  hickories  or  so-called  walnuts, 
maples,  chestnut  and  other  species.  This  latter  class  of  forest 
covers  by  far  the  greater  part  of  the  wooded  area  of  the  State, 
and  the  most  important  tree  of  this  type  is  the  chestnut,-  which, 
it  is  estimated,  constitutes  fully  one-half  of  the  timber  of  the 
State.  The  State  is  naturally  fortunate  in  being  the  home  of 
two  such  trees  as  the  white  pine  and  chestnut,  which  are  among 
the  most  rapid  growing  and  valuable  trees  of  the  country. 

Unfortunately  the  woodlands  of  the  State  have  been  very 
sadly  maltreated,  so  that  their  productive  capacity  has  been 
considerably  impaired.  Practically  all  of  the  virgin  timber  of 
Southern  New  England  was  cut  off  before  the  Revolutionary 
war.  From  that  time  on  there  was  a  period  of  over  fifty  years 
when  fuel  was  the  chief  product  of  our  forests.  The  woods 
sprouted  vigorously  and  were  cut  on  a  short  rotation,*  often 
not  over  fifteen  years. 

Following  the  great  development  of  manufactures  in  Con- 
necticut and  the  consequent  drift  of  population  to  the  cities, 
'the  more  inaccessible  portions  of  farms  were  allowed  to  grow 
up  to  brush  or  forest.  With  the  introduction  of  coal  for  fuel 
and  the  transportation  facilities  of  railroads  the  demand  for 
wood  steadily  diminished,  so  that  to-day,  except  in  the  vicinity 
of  large  towns  or  brass  factories,  the  market  is  poor.  The 
railroads,  which  were  in  a  great  part  responsible  for  this  decline 
in  the  value  of  fuel,  brought  about  a  demand  for  railroad 
ties,  a  forest  product  requiring  a  longer  rotation  than  fuel. 
With  the  growth  of  telegraph  and  telephone  lines  the  supply 
of  poles  has  become  one  of  the  chief  uses  of  our  forests. 
While  the  manufacture  of  lumber  itself  by  small  saw  mills 
has  been  carried  on  in  a  small  way  in  all  parts  of  the  State, 
the  main  lumber  supplies  are  imported,  only  very  local  regions 
being  supplied  with  native  material. 


TIMBER    AS    A    CROP.  C 

The  fact  that  the  forest  area  of  Connecticut  has  steadily 
increased,  owing  to  the  abandonment  of  farm  land,  added  to 
the  good  sprouting  ability  of  most  of  our  trees,  naturally  led 
land  owners  to  look  upon  woodlands  as  property  which  would 
care  for  itself. 

Intensive  farming  has  become  necessary  in  Connecticut  and 
is  made  possible  by  the  application  of  science  to  agriculture. 
Every  acre  must  be  given  the  treatment  which  will  yield  the 
best  financial  results.  Less  than  one-half  the  area  of  the  State, 
however,  is  devoted  to  food  production.  It  is  therefore  a  very 
important  matter  that  the  million  and  a  half  acres  not  thus 
used,  a  large  portion  of  it  owned  by  farmers,  should  be  pro- 
ducing the  crop  for  which  they  are  best  suited,  namely,  forests ; 
^nd  also  that  care  and  knowledge  should  be  devoted  to  securing 
the  largest  and  best  production  of  timber  from  these  forests. 
The  rapidly  increasing  price  of  our  best  forest  products  is 
sufficient  reason  for  early  action.  While  the  price  of  our  own 
chestnut  and  oak  lumber  has  been  practically  at  a  standstill  for 
thirty  or  more  years,  it  will  undoubtedly  rise  when  the  virgin 
supplies  of  timber  in  other  parts  of  the  country  become 
exhausted,  as  they  bid  fair  to  at  the  present  rate  of  cutting. 

The  purpose  of  this  bulletin  is  to  serve  as  a  guide  for  the 
better  management  of  our  woodlots,  a  management  which  will 
produce  a  greater  income  in  a  definite  period,  or  an  equal 
income  in  a  shorter  time,  than  is  produced  under  the  present 
careless  method. 

Since  chestnut  is  such  an  important  factor  in  the  Connecti- 
cut woodlot,  the  treatment  of  the  lot  must  in  most  cases  conform 
more  or  less  closely  to  the  demands  of  this  species. 

The  tobacco  grower  has  developed  his  industry  by  a  careful 
attention  to  every  characteristic  and  every  need  of  the  tobacco 
plant,  and  the  successful  farmer  well  understands  the  best 
methods  of  growing  and  handling  his  special  crops.  In  the 
same  way,  the  raising  of  good  timber  crops  requires  an  intimate 
knowledge  of  the  trees  which  make  up  the  forest;  therefore, 
as  a  basis  for  the  management  of  the  woodlot,  this  bulletin  aims 
to  furnish  definite  data  on  the  character  of  chestnut. 

In  Europe  precise  studies  have  been  carried  on  during  the 
past  century,  resulting  in  tables  of  growth  and  yield  for  the 


6  CONNECTICUT    EXPERIMENT    STATION    BULLETIN    1 54. 

various  important  species.  In  this  country  the  securing  of 
accurate  information  of  this  character  has  been  confined  to 
the  past  decade,  and  it  is  still  very  incomplete.  White  pine 
has  been  the  subject  of  considerable  study  in  different  sections 
of  the  country,  and  a  bulletin  has  been  published  by  the  United 
States  Bureau  of  Forestry  on  Chestnut  in  Southern  Maryland. 
The  growth  of  chestnut  in  Connecticut  has  not  been  studied 
in  detail,  and  conditions  are  so  different  from  those  of  Southern 
Maryland  that  a  study  of  the  species  in  Connecticut  is  published 
here.  The  tables  given  in  this  bulletin  are  the  results  of 
"stem  analyses"  of  over  four  hundred  chestnut  trees  grown  m 
the  following  towns  of  Connecticut:  Portland,  Windsor,  Scot- 
land, Washington,  Morris,  Bethlehem  and  Litchfield.  The 
object  in  obtaining  the  data  in  such  a  variety  of  localities  is, 
of  course,  that  they  may  be  representative  of  the  whole  State. 
The  elevations  of  the  localities  vary  from  ioo  feet  to  1,000  feet 
or  over  above  sea  level. 

A  "stem  analysis"  includes  the  measurement  of  the  total 
height  of  the  tree,  the  diameter  at  the  stump,  and  (in  this  case) 
at  every  eight  feet,  the  age  of  the  tree,  and  an  accurate  measure- 
ment of  the  radial  growth  for  ten-year  periods.  From  these 
figures  are  computed  the  cubical  contents  of  the  tree,  as  well 
as  its  rate  of  growth.  Unless  otherwise  stated,  the  diameter 
of  a  tree  in  forestry  publications  refers  to  the  diameter  at 
breast  height,  4.5  feet  from  the  ground. 

The  author  wishes  to  acknowledge  the  valuable  assistance 
rendered  by  Prof.  Henry  S.  Graves,  Director  of  the  Yale 
Forest  School,  and  by  the  United  States  Forest  Service,  in 
securing  the  data  which  form  the  basis  of  this  bulletin.  The 
Forest  Service  has  undertaken,  during  the  past  few  years,  the 
establishment  of  permanent  sample  plots  in  various  parts  of 
the  East.  These  sample  plots  are  to  enable  continuous  observa- 
tion and  study  of  definite  forest  problems,  along  lines  which 
have  been  practiced  in  Europe.  Through  the  efforts  of  Prof. 
Graves  a  scheme  of  cooperation  was  devised  whereby  the 
author  directed  the  establishment  of  a  considerable  number 
of  these  plots  in  the  State  forest  at  Portland,  Conn.  The  Forest 
Service  on  its  side  furnished  two  assistants,  who  aided  not  only 
in  the  establishment  of  these  sample  plots,  but  also  in  obtaining 
the  data  for  this  study.     Without  this  cooperation  the  study 


NATURAL    HISTORY   OF   A    WOODLOT.  J 

would  have  been  impossible,   as  there  is  no   State  appropria- 
tion available  for  research  in  forestry  matters. 

NATURAL  HISTORY  OF  A  WOODLOT. 

The  treatment  of  the  woodlot  is  of  course  a  more  compli- 
cated matter  than  the  treatment  of  individual  trees.  Because 
thrifty  chestnut  trees  continue  to  grow  remuneratively  up  to 
seventy-five  years  of  age,  as  is  shown  on  page  33,  it  does  not 
follow  that  this  is  the  best  rotation  on  which  to  manage  wood- 
lots.  As  the  trees  grow  older  and  larger  they  crowd  more  and 
more,  so  that  a  severe  struggle  for  existence  ensues.  Trees 
derive  their  food  materials  through  the  roots  from  the  soil  in 
the  form  of  mineral  solutions.  These  are  passed  up  into  the 
crown  of  the  tree  and  distributed  through  the  leaves.  The 
leaves  take  in  carbon  dioxide  from  the  air,  and  by  the  action 
of  sunlight  on  the  chlorophyl  of  the  leaves  carbon  products  are 
formed  which  go  to  make  the  wood.  These  substances  are 
carried  down  the  tree  and  deposited  in  the  form  of  an  annual 
ring.  The  width  of  these  rings,  or  the  rate  of  diameter  growth 
of  a  tree,  depends  then  upon  the  fertility  of  the  soil  and  upon 
the  size  of  the  crown  which  can  be  acted  upon  by  sunlight. 
In  other  words,  the  growth  of  a  tree,  like  that  of  an  animal, 
depends  upon  its  food  and  its  digestive  apparatus.  So  a  tree 
in  the  open  grows  faster  than  one  closely  surrounded  by  other 
trees.  This  is  very  well  illustrated  on  page  39  by  a  seedling 
which  produced  three  ties  in  26  years,  requiring  800  square 
feet  of  room,  as  compared  to  many  trees  of  the  same  age  with 
only  100  square  feet  of  crown  which  produce  but  one  tie.  On 
the  other  hand,  trees  grown  in  the  open  are  apt  to  assume  an 
apple  tree  shape,  which  is  of  little  value  for  lumber.  Their 
logs  are  not  only  short,  but  they  are  usually  very  limby.  In 
order  to  have  clear  straight  logs  it  is  necessary  that  in  youth, 
at  least,  trees  stand  close  together.  While  the  consequent 
struggle  for  existence  results  in  less  diameter  growth,  height 
growth  is  stimulated,  as  the  trees  are  all  striving  for  the  light 
above  and  the  lower  branches,  being  cut  off  from  light,  die 
and  fall  oft.  On  page  37  there  is  a  discussion  of  the  sprouting 
capacity  of  chestnut.  When  one  considers  that  there  may  be 
from  one  to  one  hundred  or  more  sprouts   from  each  stump 


8  CONNECTICUT   EXPERIMENT   STATION    BULLETIN    1 54. 

of  the  two  or  three  hundred  trees  cut  per  acre,  the  immense 
number  of  sprouts  per  acre  is  evident.  Yet  after  twenty 
years  there  are  seldom  over  six  or  eight  trees  in  a  clump, 
and  oftener  there  are  only  four  or  five.  In  the  struggle  for 
existence  during  that  period  the  number  has  been  reduced 
from  several  thousand  on  an  acre  to  as  many  hundred.  The 
trees  which  have  survived  are  still  far  too  numerous  to 
form  a  mature  forest,  and  they  are  of  all  .grades  of  excel- 
lence, from  the  straight  clear  pole  with  ample  top  for  best 
development  to  the  spindling-topped,  crooked  tree  which 
is  being  rapidly  crowded  out.  In  nature  this  struggle  for 
existence  goes  on  indefinitely.  The  great  waste  through  such 
a  struggle  is  apparent.  This  waste  is  not  alone  due  to  the 
fact  that  these  innumerable  trees  die,  fall  to  the  ground  and  rot ; 
but  even  more  to  the  fact  that  by  their  fight  for  existence  they 
interfere  with  the  growth  of  the  better  trees  which  are  to 
make  the  final  harvest,  and  which  should  be  straight  poles  to 
produce  the  most  profit. 

THE   IMPROVEMENT   THINNING. 

When  the  trees  of  a  woodlot  have  attained  their  main  height 
growth,  and  the  lower  limbs  have  been  pruned  off  in  their 
struggle  for  light,  the  forester  makes  an  "improvement  thin- 
ning" in  order  to  accelerate  as  much  as  possible  the  diameter 
growth.  The  principle  of  such  a  thinning  is  to  substitute  for 
nature's  wasteful  struggle  a  systematic  removal  of  the  weaker 
and  inferior  trees,  leaving  as  many  of  the  good  trees  as  can 
develop  without  retardation  for  a  given  period,  say  ten  years. 
As  these  thinnings  are  seldom  made  before  the  trees  are  twenty 
years  old,  the  wood  removed  has,  in  most  cases,  a  sale  value 
sufficient  to  pay  the  expense  of  the  operation.  This  is  especially 
true  where  there  is  a  good  admixture  of  hardwoods,  and  where 
the  farmer  makes  his  own  thinning. 

In  practice  it  is  customary  to  blaze  the  trees  which  are  to  be 
removed.  This  marking  process  requires  considerable  judg- 
ment and  experience,  special  attention  being  given  the  trees 
which  are  to  remain  rather  than  those  which  are  to  be  cut. 
Several  factors  determine  which  trees  are  to  remain  and  which 
are  to  be  cut  out.     In  the  first  place,  of  course,  the  most  valu- 


IMPROVEMENT    THINNING.  9 

able  and  rapid  growing-  species  have  precedence.  Where  there 
is  a  question  which  of  two  species  shall  be  left,  the  following 
list  may  serve  as  a  guide,  although  it  is  by  no  means  invariable : 

Species  specially  favored :  Chestnut,  white  pine,  oak,  hick- 
ory, white  ash. 

Species  of  less  value :  Maple,  black  birch,  pitch  pine,  butter- 
nut, tulip,  pepperidge,  beech,  basswood,  hemlock,  elm.. 

Species  usually  removed :  Gray  birch  and  red  cedar,  iron- 
wood,  sassafras,  poplar. 

More  important  usually  than  the  species  is  the  character  of 
the  tree.  Straight,  tall  trees,  with  well  developed  thrifty  tops, 
are  left  in  preference  to  spindling,  weak-topped  trees,  or 
crooked  or  unsound  trees.  Trees  affected  by  fungus  diseases 
are  invariably  removed  to  prevent  the  spread  of  the  disease  to 
other  trees. 

In  a  group  of  equally  good  trees  it  is  often  best  to  remove 
one  or  more,  as  the  remaining  trees  will  then  produce  a  larger 
money  income  than  would  all  of  them  had  they  been  left. 

Trees  are  conveniently  divided  into  four  classes :  Dominant, 
intermediate,  suppressed  and  dead.  Dominant  trees  are  those 
whose  crowns  are  entirely  open  to  sunlight.  Intermediate  trees 
receive  sunlight  from  above,  but  are  shaded  on  the  sides,  and 
are  liable  to  become  suppressed.  Suppressed  trees  are  those 
which  are  entirely  overtopped  by  other  trees,  and  are  slowly 
dying.  Dominant  trees  are  seldom  removed  unless  by  so 
doing  a  number  of  thrifty  trees  can  be  assisted.  Suppressed 
and  dead  trees  are  removed  whenever  their  wood  will  pay  for 
their  removal,  but  they  have  ceased  to  be  a  factor  in  the  growth 
of  the  stand,  and  need  not  be  cut  as  far  as  the  other  trees  are 
concerned.  Neither  is  there  any  profit  in  cutting  underbrush, 
as  is  often  supposed.  The  intermediate  trees  furnish  the  class 
in  which  most  of  the  thinning  is  done.  It  is  in  this  class  that 
the  struggle  for  existence  is  most  severe,  and  where  greatest 
economy  of  energy  can  be  effected  by  thinning.  It  is  much 
better  to  make  light  thinnings  at  frequent  intervals  than  to 
take  out  too  many  trees  at  once,  for  this  opens  up  large  patches 
of  ground  which  dry  out  on  being  exposed  to  wind  and  sun, 
and  thus  deteriorate  and  permit  the  growth  of  undesirable 
underbrush.  No  rule  can  be  laid  down  as  to  the  proportion  of 
the  number  of  trees  which  should  be  removed,  or  of  the  amount 
of  wood,  but  the  following  actual  case  may  serve  as  an  example : 


10         CONNECTICUT   EXPERIMENT   STATION    BULLETIN    1 54. 

TABLE    SHOWING    THE    NUMBER    OF    TREES    LEFT    AND    THE    NUMBER    CUT    ON 
A    QUARTER    ACRE    IN    FARMINGTON,    CONN. 


Species. 

Number  of                 Number  of 

trees  left.                    trees  cut. 

1 

Chestnut, 

Red  Oak,  

36 

15 

4 

32 

18 

9 

7 

1 

3 
125 

18 

White  Oak, 

Red  Maple, 

Black  Birch,    

5 

Ash,  

Hickory, 

Beech,  

Slippery  Elm, 

3 
1 

Sassafras, 

6 

1 

53      . 

Basswood, 

Total  Number 

From  a  total  number  of  183  trees,  58,  or  32  per  cent.,  were 
cut.  The  total  volume  of  the  wood  on  the  quarter  acre  was 
at  the  rate  of  30  cords  per  acre,  while  that  removed  was  at  the 
rate  of  6.4  cords  per  acre,  or  21  per  cent,  of  the  total  volume. 

Special  warning  should  be  given  to  those  contemplating 
improvement  thinnings  that  these  thinnings  must  always  follow 
the  judgment  of  the  operator,  and  cannot  be  made  along  hard 
and  fast  rules.  It  is  not  safe,  for  example,  to  say  that  a  birch 
must  always  be  cut  to  make  room  for  an  oak,  or  that  in  clumps 
of  five  sprouts  one  or  any  definite  number  should  be  removed. 
The  following  illustrations  may  also  show  something  of  the 
points  considered  and  the  method  of  improvement  cutting. 


EXPLANATION    OF    THE    FOLLOWING    PLATES    AND  ■ 
DIAGRAMS. 

Each  pair  of  plates  shows  two  views  of  a  group  of  sprouts  about* 
twenty-five  years  old  in  the  State  forest  at  Portland,  Conn.  The  view 
on  the  left  shows  the  group  as  it  grew  without  any  treatment.  The 
view  on  the  right  is  taken  from  the  same  point  after  the  group  had  been 
properly  thinned.  The  numbers  and  letters  on  the  trees  make  it  possible 
to  locate  them  in  the  other  view  and  in  the  diagram. 

The  diagram  accompanying  each  set  of  plates  shows  the  relative 
position  and  size  of  the  crowns  of  the  various  trees.  They  are  drawn 
to  a  scale  of  ten .  feet  to  the  inch.  The  shaded  areas  are  the 
crowns  of  the  trees  that  were  removed  before  the  second  photograph 
was  taken.     The   "camera"   indicates   the   point    from   which   the   photo- 


IMPROVEMENT    THINNING. 


II 


graphs  were  taken,  and  the  dots  with  small  numbers  show  the  positions 
of  the  trunks.  For  example,  Plate  II  shows  the  trees  from  left  to 
right  in  the  following  order : :  Y,  78,  79,  X,  77,  80,  81,  Z,  which  is  the 
order  in  which  straight  lines  drawn  from  these  trees  to  the  camera 
would  lie. 


A, 


&  FEET. 


Diagram  I,  referring  to  Plates  II  and  III. 
In  this  group  of  sprouts  trees  79,  80,  81  are  straight,  thrifty  trees 
with  diameters  5  to  7  inches  and  heights  40  to  43  feet.  Tree  Z  as 
shown  by  the  diagram  is  almost  suppressed,  being  only  30  feet  high. 
Its  removal  will  admit  more  light  for  80  and  81.  The  crowns  of  X,  Y, 
77  and  78  form  one  mass  of  foliage,  the  removal  of  which  will  help 
79  and  81.  The  photographs  show  the  relatively  small  size  of  the  trees 
X,  Y,  and  Z,  which  are  nearly  suppressed.  The  unnumbered  crooked 
trees  are  already  too  much  suppressed  to  affect  the  development  of  the 
large  trees. 


12  CONNECTICUT    EXPERIMENT    STATION    BULLETIN    1 54. 


5  FEET. 


Diagram  II,  referring  to  Plates  IV  and  V. 
In  this  double  group  of  sprouts  there  are  four  especially  promising 
poles :  10,  13,  14,  15,  with  diameters  from  5  to  7  inches,  and  heights 
40  to  47  feet.  The  crown  of  tree  11  is  crowded  in  between  10  and  13, 
and  seriously  interferes  with  their  development.  No.  12,  although  47 
feet  high,  has  a  crown  too  small  to  supply  it  with  food.  Its  diameter 
is  only  4.7  inches.  By  its  removal  the  other  three  of.  the  group,  which 
are  all  over  six  inches,  will  obtain  more  light  and  increase  their  diameter 
rapidh'.     The  removal  of  tj'ees  8  and  9  affect  respectively  13  and  10. 


PLATE  II. 


"" 


Group  of  chestnut  sprouts,  twenty-five  years  old,  before  thinning. 


PLATE  III. 


The  same  group,  after  thinning. 


PLATE  IV. 


&.'■;/.< 


life 


Pf    JSf'. 


BSK7E4 


isfir 


■^v 


it'&« 


tfc 


Group  of  chestnut  sprouts,  before  thinning. 


PLATE  V. 


The  same  group  after  thinning. 


PLATE  VI. 


Group  of  chestnut  sprouts,  before  thinning. 


PLATE  VII. 


The  same  group  after  thinnins 


IMPROVEMENT    THINNING. 


13 


^MEr|/ 


5  FEET. 


Diagram  III,  referring  to  Plates  VI  and  VII. 
Trees  A,  B  and  C  are  fine  specimens  of  chestnut  poles, — diameters  7 
to  9  inches,  heights  55  to  60  feet.  In  Plate  VI  C  is  nearly  concealed 
by  Y.  A  is  the  tree  furthest  to  the  left.  Y  is  a  suppressed  tree  only  5 
inches  in  diameter  and  42  feet  high,  wholly  overtopped  by  X.  It  is  removed 
for  use  rather  than  for  any  influence  on  the  remaining  trees.  X,  on 
the  other  hand,  is  an  intermediate  tree  57  feet  high,  fully  as  good  as  the 
rest.  It  is  believed  that  the  increased  growth  of  A,  B,  and  C  will  more 
than  compensate  for  its  removal. 


14  CONNECTICUT    EXPERIMENT    STATION    BULLETIN    154. 

THE    RESULTS    OF    IMPROVEMENT    THINNING. 

One  of  the  main  results  of  a  thinning  is  that  a  greater  num- 
ber of  perfect  trees,  and  therefore  better  lumber,  is  produced. 
In  the  following  pages  the  relatively  greater  profit  from  chest- 
nut poles  over  other  chestnut  products  is  plainly  brought  out. 
Obviously  very  many  more  trees  are  crooked  and  therefore 
unfit  for  poles  in  a  natural  forest  than  in  one  which  has  been 
properly  thinned.  The  table  on  page  31  shows  the  stumpage 
value  for  chestnut  trees  of  different  sizes.  In  an  18  inch  tree 
there  is  from  20  cents  to  $2.00  more  profit  cut  as  a  pole  than 
for  lumber.  It  will  readily  be  seen  that  the  profit  per  acre, 
may  be  greatly  increased  by  producing  poles  instead  of  lumber. 
If  in  a  clump  of  a  dozen  trees  the  struggle  for  existence  is  so 
severe  that  only  three  survive,  the  forester  does  well,  if  by 
abating  this  struggle  he  can  produce  five  thrifty  trees.  By 
wise  selection  the  whole  area  can  be  made  productive  up  to 
its  maximum  capacity.  Reference  is  made  on 'page  39  to  a 
sprout  which  produced  two  ties  in  21  years  by  means  of  its 
254  square  feet  of  crown.  This  would  permit  171  such  trees 
per  acre,  or  342  ties.  The  frontispiece  (Plate  I)  shows  a  chest- 
nut seedling  103  years  old  which  produced  662  board  feet 
with  a  crown  space  of  900  square  feet.  These  figures  empha- 
size the  large  crops  which  can  be  secured  by  judiciously  thin- 
ning so  as  to  permit  crown  development  of  this  kind.  By  the 
increased  growth  timber  will  become  in  a  given  time  larger 
than  would  have  been  the  case  under  nature's  treatment.  A 
greater  and  more  profitable  crop  can  therefore  be  raised  in  a 
definite  period,  or,  in  other  words,  the  period  for  producing  a 
definite  amount  of  wood  can  be  reduced. 

Measurements  of  the  wood  crop  on  a  tract  of  three  hundred 
acres  showed  7,900  cords  standing,  with  an  average  age  of  48 
years.  The  average  growth  had  therefore  been  about  one- 
half  a  cord  per  acre  per  annum.  Good  land  will  produce  a 
cord  an  acre  in  a  year,  and  by  proper  thinnings  most  land  can 
be  brought  up  to  this  standard.  On  land  which  can  be  pur- 
chased at  $10.00  an  acre  it  makes  a  difference  of  five  per  cent, 
on  the  investment  whether  one-half  a  cord  or  a  full  cord  is 
grown  annually,  considering  wood  worth  $1.00  a  cord  standing. 

Forestry  has  not  been  practiced  long  enough  in  this  country 


FINAL    HARVEST    OF    THE    WOODLOT.  '  I  $ 

to  have   demonstrated  the  value  of  thinnings,   but  in  Europe 
their  efficiency  has  long  been  recognized. 

Plates  VIII  and  IX,  following  page  16,  show  admirably  the 
effect  of  increased  light  upon  diameter  growth. 

FINAL   HARVEST   OF  THE  WOODLOT. 

The  preceding  chapter  on  improvement  thinnings  is  par- 
ticularly intended  for  the  even-aged  sprout  lots  so  common  in 
the  State.  The  first  thinning  should  be  made  from  the  twen- 
tieth to  the  twenty-fifth  year,  and  the  second  about  ten  years 
later.  The  former  of  these  is  the  more  important  for  its  effect 
upon  the  growth  of  the  timber.  In  the  latter  the  suppressed 
and  dead  trees  are  removed,  thus  preventing  waste  and  influ- 
encing somewhat  the  growth  during  the  remainder  of  the  wood- 
lot's  •  life.  Another  important  result  of  this  thinning  is  the 
seedling  reproduction  which  almost  invariably  comes  up  in 
openings,  and  which  will  be  in  good  condition  to  take  advantage 
of  the  full  light  of  the  final  harvest,  which  should  usually  be 
when  the  trees  are  about  fifty  years  old.  It  is  essential  for  the 
permanent  welfare  of  Connecticut  woodland  that  some  seed- 
lings are  started  with  each  generation  of  sprouts.  Otherwise 
the  woods  of  the  State  would  perpetually  deteriorate. 

The  age  for  the  final  harvest,  set  here  at  about  fifty  years,  is, 
of  course,  variable.  Lots  which  have  suffered  from  fire  or 
are  seriously  affected  by  rot  should  be  cut  earlier,  while  those 
composed  largely  of  chestnut  seedlings  or  of  other  longer  lived 
trees  can  more  profitably  be  left  for  a  longer  time. 

Public  opinion  in  regard  to  forestry  is  still  very  much  at 
sea.  One  of  the  most  common  delusions  held  by  the  public 
on  the  subject  is  that,  according  to  the  doctrines  of  forestry, 
woodlands  should  never  be  cut  clean,  but  that  individual  trees 
should  be  removed  here  and  there  as  they  mature.  This  is  the 
so-called  "selection  system,"  and  is  perfectly  sound  for  some 
forms  of  forest,  especially  conifers,  which  reproduce  wholly 
from  seed.  A  large  proportion  of  the  chestnut  of  Connecti- 
cut comes  from  sprouts,  this  ability  of  the  species  for  sprouting 
being  discussed  on  page  37.  Chestnut  sprouts  do  not  grow 
well  under  shade,  and  for  this  reason  a  selection  system  of 
removing  occasional  trees,  as  in  coniferous  forests,  is  not 
advisable  in  chestnut  stands.     As  the  main  reproduction  must 


1 6  CONNECTICUT    EXPERIMENT    STATION    BULLETIN    1 54. 

always  be  by  sprouts,  it  is  better  to  practice  a  modified  form 
of  the  present  clear  cutting  system,  when  a  woodlot  is  ready 
to  cut.  Since  most  of  our  woodlots  contain  longer-lived  and 
slower  growing  trees,  such  as  the  white  oak  and  hickory,  it 
is  often  advisable  to  leave  a  few  such  trees  per  acre  to  grow 
into  large  dimension  lumber ;  but  these  should  be  left  in 
clumps,  not  individually.  Solitary  trees  thus  left  are  liable  to 
windfall  and  windshake. 

The  preceding  instructions  for  the  improvement  of  the  wood- 
lot  can  only  be  applied  to  those  still  engaged  in  the  struggle 
for  existence.  Very  many  of  the  Connecticut  woodlots  are 
past  this  age.  They  are  irregular  in  appearance,  with  a  few 
good  trees  and  many  crooked  and  diseased  trees  which  have 
"lost  out"  in  the  struggle.  An  improvement  thinning  cannot 
increase  the  growth  of  the  remaining  timber.. very  much;  but  a 
"reproduction  cutting"  can  be  made,  preparatory  to  the  final 
harvest.  This  is  similar  to  the  second  thinning  described  above, 
and  consists  in  removing  all  the  inferior  trees,  thus  making 
room  for  seedling  reproduction  to  form  part  of  the  next  forest 
generation,  when  the  whole  lot  is  cut  after  about  ten  years. 

Illustrations  of  this  are  given  on  Plates  X  and  XL 

TIMBER  ESTIMATING. 

One  of  the  most  important  subjects  which  can  be  presented 
to  the  farmer  along  forestry  lines  is  timber  estimating. 
Through  long  years  of  experience  in  cutting  hay  and  harvest- 
ing corn  he  has  acquired  an  ability  to  estimate,  in  many  cases, 
very  accurately  the  amount  of  hay  or  corn  standing  in  the 
field.  By  similair  training  in  buying  and  cutting  lumber  the 
lumberman  has  acquired  the  ability  to  estimate  fairly  closely 
the  amount  of  timber  standing  in  the  woodlot.  While  the 
farmer  can  sell  his  standing  hay  to  good  advantage,  he  usually 
makes  a  poor  bargain  when  he  sells  his  woodlot  to  the  lumber- 
man, because  the  latter  knows  better  its  actual  value. 

The  farmer  has  no  time  to  acquire  this  training  in  lumber 
estimating,  and  should  therefore  appreciate  any  ready-made 
methods  such  as  the  forester  employs.  The  application 
of  these  methods  requires  more  time  than  does  that  of  the 
lumberman,  who  usually  only'  walks  through  the  lot ;  but  when 
carefully  applied,  the  forester's  estimates  are  more  accurate 
than  those  of  any  man  relying  on  experience  alone. 


PLATE  VIII. 


Plate  VIII  shows  the  cross  section  of  a  chestnut  sprout  which  grew  in  a 
clump  of  three.  The  other  two  were  cut  for  ties  eight  years  ago,  according 
to  the  farmer's  account,  which  was  verified  by  the  small  sprout  which  had 
come  from  them  and  which  appears  in  the  picture.  At  that  time  this  tree 
was  34  years  old,  had  a  diameter  of  8.5  inches,  and  was  therefore  too  small 
to  cut  for  ties.  During  the  eight  years  of  unlimited  light  the  diameter  grew 
to  14  inches,  an  increase  of  six  inches  in  eight  years.  The  tree,  42  years  old, 
now    furnishes   three   ties. 

The  measure,  seen  in  the  picture,  is  divided  into  feet,  tenths  and  hun- 
dredths. 


PLATE  IX. 


Plate  IX  shows  below  the  cross  section  of  a  chestnut  seedling,  42  years 
old,  which  was  only  two  inches  in  diameter  at  the  age  of  18  years,  when 
the  wood  was  cut  off  in  1881.  During  the  24  years  of  unlimited  light  the 
tree  grew  to  thirteen  inches. 

The  time  of  cutting  given  by  the  farmer  was  again  verified  by  the  age  of 
the  sprouts  forming  the  present  stand.  The  smaller  section,  shown  above, 
is  from  one  of  these  sprouts,  and  is  24  years  old. 


PLATE  X. 


::' 


A.  A   woodlot  where  a  light  improvement  thinning   has   been   made:  State 
Forest,  Portland,  Conn.     This  land  was  bought  by  the  State  for  $2.00  an  acre. 


B.  A  woodlot  which  should  be  thinned  :  Farmington,  Conn.  Of  the  35  cords 
per  acre,  7  cords  should  be  cut,  or  20  percent.  This  will  leave  72.  chestnuts, 
192  hickories,  52  oaks,  and  6  ash  per  acre. 


PLATE  XI. 


A.  An  open  stand  in  which  a  thrifty  reproduction  of  hemlock  has  come  up 
under  worthless  butternut.  The  latter  should  be  cut  to  allow  better  growth  of 
the  hemlock,  and  a  chance  for  reproduction  of  other  species  before  the  final 
harvest. 


B.  A  mixture  of  white  and  pitch  pine,  red  cedar  and  chestnut.  The  cedars 
are  mostly  suppressed  and  should  be  removed  along  with  some  of  the  pitch 
pine  to  make  room  for  the  reproduction  of  white  pine  before  the  final  harvest. 


ESTIMATING   TIMBER. 


17 


VOLUME   TABLES. 

One  of  the  best  methods  of  estimating-  timber  is  by  means 
of  volume  tables.  A  volume  table  gives  the  average  volume 
for  trees  of  different  diameters.  Such  volume  tables  have 
been  made  in  Europe  for  practically  all  species  of  that  conti- 
nent, but  tables  of  this  class  in  America  are  still  scarce.  The 
volume  tables  below  give  the  volume  of  chestnut  trees  in  fuel, 
ties,  piles,  poles  and  lumber,  and  are  practically  the  only  pub- 
lished tables  for  the  species  except  some  obtained  in  Maryland, 
where  conditions  are  quite  different.  They  are  made  by 
averaging  the  results  of  the  stem  analyses  mentioned  on 
page  6. 


TABLE  I.— CHESTNUT  VOLUME  TABLE.     Solid  cubic  feet,  and 

STACKED   CORDS,  AND   THE  GROSS   VALUE  DELIVERED. 


Diameter 

Breast 

High  (inches). 

Volume 

in  cubic 

feet  (solid). 

Volume* 
in  cords 
(stacked). 

Gross  value 
delivered  at 
S3.00  per  cord. 

3    

4    

5    

6   

7    

8   

9    

0.7 
2.0 

3-5 

5-2 

7.2 
10. 
12. 

15- 
19.   ' 

23- 

27. 

3i- 

37- 

42. 

48. 

55- 

62. 

69. 

77- 

85. 

93- 
102. 
112. 
122. 
132. 
143- 
154- 
164. 

175- 

.02 
.04 
.06 
.08 
.11 
•13 
•17 
.21 
.26 
•30 

•34 
•4i 
•47 
•53 
.61 
.70 
■77 
.86 

•95 
1.04 
1. 14 

1-25 

1.36 

1.47 
1.60 
1.72 
1.86 
2.00 

$    .06 
.12 
.18 
•24 

•33 

•39 

■51 

.63 

•78 

.90 

■  1.02 

1.23 

1.41 

i-59 

1.83 

2.10 

2.31 

2.58 

2.85 

10    

11 

12    

3  :::::::::: 

15   

16  

17  

18  

19  

20  

21   

22  

23   

24  

25   

26  

^7    

28    

29    

30    

31    

3.12 
3-44 
3-75 
4.08 
4.41 
4.80 
5.i6 
5.58 
6  00 

*  H»  is  customary  to  convert  cubic  feet,  into  stacked  cords  by  dividing  by 
89.6,  on  the  principle  that  a  cord  of  wood  contains  on  an  average  70  per 
cent,  of  solid  wood. 


1 8  CONNECTICUT    EXPERIMENT    STATION    REPORT,    I906. 

Table  I  gives  the  average  volume  in  cubic  feet  for  trees 
of  different  diameters,  and  the  same  reduced  to  fractions  of 
cords,  with  the  gross  value  for  the  same  delivered  at  $3.00  a 
cord. 

APPLICATION    OF    VOLUME    TABLES. 

The  purpose  of  a  volume  table  is  for  wide  application  and 
not  for  limited  use.  It  is  an  expression  of  average  figures. 
That  is,  it  might  be  difficult  to  find  a  chestnut  tree  23  inches 
in  diameter  which  would  stack  up  just  a  cord,  yet  the  average 
volume  of  several  trees  of  this  diameter  in  Connecticut  is 
this  amount.  The  value  of  such  a  table  is  apparent  to  any 
woodland  owner  or  prospective  purchaser.  A  simple  way  of 
computing  the  stand  of  wood  on  a  lot  is  by  measuring  the 
diameters  of  the  trees  on  the  whole  lot  or  a  part  of  it,  and  mul- 
tiplying the  volumes  for  different  diameters  by  the  number  of 
trees  in  the  diameter  class.  It  is  seldom  necessary  to  measure 
the  trees  on  a  whole  lot,  for  sample  plots  can  usually  be  selected 
fairly  representative  of  the  whole.  The  volume  of  wood  on 
the  whole  lot  is,  of  course,  computed  by  multiplying  that  of  the 
sample  plot  by  the  number  of  such  plots  which  could  be 
obtained  in  the  whole  piece.  These  sample  plots  should  be 
carefully  selected  to  represent  an  average  stand  and  may  be 
square,  circular,  or  any  convenient  shape.  They  are  usually 
either  one  acre,  one-half,  one-quarter,  one-eighth,  or  one-six- 
teenth of  an  acre  in  size.  One  method  considerably  used  is 
to  lay  out  a  circle  with  a  radius  of  sixty  feet.  This  includes 
practically  one-quarter  acre.  A  square  acre  has  208  feet  on 
a  side,  a  quarter  acre  104  feet,  an  eighth  acre  74  feet,  and  a 
sixteenth  acre  52  feet.  Half  acres  are  usually  made  rectangu- 
lar, 208  X  104  feet. 

The  application  of  this  method  of  estimating  wood  is  given 
in  Table  II,  the  result  from  a  quarter  acre  plot  on  the  Mountain 
Spring  farm  in  Farmington,  Conn. 


ESTIMATING   TIMBER. 


19 


TABLE   II. — Number   of   trees   on   one   quarter   acre,    Farmington, 

Conn. 


Diameter 

Breast  High 

(inches). 

Chest- 
nut. 

Red 
Oak. 

Beech. 

Black 
Birch. 

Rock 
Oak. 

Hem- 
lock. 

Hickory. 

Maple. 

I 

2 

6 

I 

I 

4 

2 

3 

3 

6 

7 

10 

2 

1 

3 

4 

4 

2 

4 

2 

4 

2 

5 

2 

6 

6 

I 

3 

I 

6 

4 

I 

4 

1 

2 

I 

7 

5 

3 

4 

I 

1 

I 

8 

5 

4 

3 

1 

9 

8 

2 

.     3 

1 

! 

10 

5 

I 

11 

1 

. 

12 

2 

■ 

13 

3 

14 

2 

15 

32 

Total, 

35 

9 

33 

11 

7 

IS 

10 

By   using  Table   I   it  is   a   simple   matter   to   compute   the 
number  of  cords  of  chestnut  on  the  quarter  acre.     The  method 


of  working  is  shown  in  Table  III. 


TABLE  III. — Number  of  cords  of  chestnut  wood  on  the   quarter 
acre  given  in  Table  II. 


Diameter 

Breast 

High 

(inches). 

Volume 
in  cords 
(stacked 
per  tree). 

Number  of 
trees. 

Total 

volume  in 

cords  (stacked). 

6   

.06 
.08 
.11 
•13 
•17 
.21 
.26 
•30 

•34 

4 

5 
5 
8 

5 
1 
2 

3 
2 

.24 

7   

.40 

8 

•55 

Q .  .  . 

1.04 

10    

.85 

11    

.21 

12     

•52 

13     

.90 

IA    

.68 

Total  number  of  cords   . .  . 
Number  of  cords  per  acre 


5-39 
21.56 


20         CONNECTICUT   EXPERIMENT   STATION    BULLETIN    1 54. 

Where  there  are  no  volume  tables,  as  in  the  case  of  most 
of  our  trees,  it  is  possible  to  estimate  the  yield  per  acre  by 
some  modification  of  the  so-called  "sample  tree  method."  After 
the  number  of  trees  of  each  diameter  has  been  secured,  the 
average  diameter  is  computed.  One  or  more  of  these  average 
trees  are  cut  down  and  their  volumes  measured.  The  average 
volume  of  these  sample  trees  multiplied  by  the  number  of  trees 
of  the  species  gives  the  total  volume  of  wood  of  this  species. 
This,  however,  is  a  more  cumbersome  method  than  the  average 
land  owner  is  willing  to  use.  It  is  therefore  advisable  that 
volume  tables  of  all  our  species  be  prepared  as  soon  as  possible. 
The  way  of  using  the  sample  tree  method  may  be  illustrated  by 
the  red  oak  in  Table  II.  The  average  diameter  of  these  nine 
red  oaks  was  6.4  inches  and  the  volume  of  the  sample  tree 
of  this  diameter  was  7.83  cubic  feet.  The  total  volume  of  red 
oak  is  therefore  9  X  7-83  =  70.47  solid  cubic  feet,  which  is 
equivalent  to  0.8  of  a  cord  or  3.2  cords  per  acre.  The  vol- 
umes of  the  other  species  in  Table  II  were  computed  in  this 
way,  and  the  total  yield  was  10.2  cords,  or  40.8  cords  per  acre,, 
of  which  a  little  over  half  was  chestnut.  The  volume  of  the 
chestnut  for  this  quarter  acre,  computed  by  this  sample  tree 
method,  came  out  exactly  the  same  as  by  the  use  of  the  volume 
table;  in  each  case  5.39  cords.  Such  close  results  by  the  two 
methods,  however,  are  seldom  obtained. 

Chestnut  Fuel  and  Ties. 
Except  for  special  industries,  chestnut  fuel  has  little  demand 
and  brings  a  low  price.  In  the  vicinity  of  brick  yards  and 
brass  factories  there  is  a  good  market  for  it  at  fair  prices.  In 
general,  however,  the  woodland  owner  in  this  State  either  sells 
his  lot  outright  or  cuts  it  for  ties  and  poles  and  lumber,  getting 
what  he  can  out  of  the  cord  wood  as  a  sort  of  extra  crop.  It 
is  therefore  more  important  to  know  the  amount  of  such 
materials  than  of  cord  wood.  Table  IV  is  a  volume  table  for 
chestnut,  expressed  in  ties,  plus  cord  wood  cut  from  the  tops- 
and  limbs ;   and  the  money  value  of  the  same. 


ESTIMATING   TIMBER. 


21 


TABLE  IV.— CHESTNUT  VOLUME  TABLE.     Ties  and  fuel  and 

GROSS    VALUE   DELIVERED. 


Diameter  Breast 
High  (inches). 

6  .... 

7  .... 

8  .... 

9  .... 

io  

ii 

12  .  .  .  . 

13  .... 

14  .... 

15  •••• 

16  .... 

17  .... 

18  .... 

19  .... 

20 
21 

22  .  .  .  . 

23  .... 

24  .... 

25  .... 

26  ..., 

27  .... 


Number  of 

Number  of 

ist  class  ties. 

2d  class  ties. 

1.2 

1.2 

1.2 

I.I 

1.9 

I.I 

2.4 

I. 

3- 

I. 

3-6 

•9 

4-3 

.8 

4-9 

.8 

5-5 

•7 

6.2 

•7 

7- 

.6 

7-8 

.6' 

8.8 

•5 

9-9 

•5 

11.2 

•4 

12.6 

•4 

I4.I 

•3 

15-9 

•3 

17-5 

.2 

Cords  of 

stacked  wood 

in  tops. 


•03 
•03 
•03 
.04 
•05 
•05 
.06 
.06 
•07 
.08 
.09 
.09 
.10 
.10 

.II 

.12 
•13 
.14 

•15 
.16 


Gross  value 
delivered. 


$  -45 
•45 
.92 

1-25 

i-45 
1.71 
1.96 
2.22 

2.51 
2.76 
3-o8 
3-39 
3-76 
4-15 
4.64 
5.18 
5-8o 

6-43 
7.22 

7-89 


We  must  again  remember  that  this  table  is  an  expression  of 
averages.  It  would,  of  course,  be  to  no  purpose  to  pick  out  a 
12  inch  tree  and  say  that  it  contains  2.4  first  class  ties  and  one 
second  class  tie,  plus  .05  of  a  cord  in  the  tops.  The  idea  is 
that  in  a  woodlot  where  there  are,,  for  example,  ten  trees  12 
inches  in  diameter,  these  would  yield  24  first  class  ties,  ten 
second  class  ties,  plus  .5  cords  of  wood.  The  values  given 
in  the  last  column  are  for  gross  price  at  point  of  delivery.  It 
will  be  noticed  that  as  the  number  of  first  class  ties  increases 
a  diminishing  amount  of  wood  goes  into  second  class  ties. 
This  is  because,  for  the  purpose  of  this  table,  logs  are  always 
considered  as  sawed  into  first  class  ties  in  preference  to  seconds. 

Table  V.  shows  the  basis  for  this  previous  table,  and  is  the 
result  of  an  inspection  of  a  portable  saw  mill  which  sawed  all 
the  chestnut  loafs  into  ties. 


22         CONNECTICUT   EXPERIMENT    STATION    BULLETIN    1 54. 


TABLE  V.' — Volume  of  chestnut  logs  8  feet  long. 


Diameter  outside  bark 

at  small  end 

(inches). 


9- 
10. 
11. 
12. 

IS- 

14. 

IS- 


Number 

of  ties. 

Class. 

I 

II 

I 

II 

I 

I 

I 

I 

I 

I 

I 

I 

I 

I 

2 

I 

2 

I 

Diameter  outside 

bark  at  small  end 

(inches). 


16. 

17. 
18. 
19. 

20. 
21  . 

22. 
23- 
24. 


Number  of 
ties. 


There  are,  of  course,  cases  where  it  is  possible  to  realize 
more  by  cutting  logs  into  seconds  than  firsts.  For  example, 
some  logs  17  inches  at  the  top  may  be  sawed  into  four  seconds 
instead  of  two  firsts,  having  a  gross  value  of  $1.20  instead  of 
$0.84.  Since  these  cases  are  rare,  for  the  purpose  of  uni- 
formity they  were  omitted  in  preparing  these  tables.  It  is  one 
of  the  faults  of  the  present  prices  offered  by  the  railroad  com- 
pany that  they  thus  encourage  sawing  into  second  class  ties, 
while  they  are  anxious  to  obtain  the  largest  possible  proportion 
of  first  class  ties. 

Chestnut  Piles. 

One  of  the  greatest  advantages  of  chestnut  over  the  other 
trees  of  the  State  is  that  it  has  such  varied  uses.  Important 
among  these  are  the  uses  for  poles  for  telegraph,  telephone 
and  electric  light  and  trolley  lines ;  and  for  piles.  Inasmuch 
as  pile  sticks  do  not  need  to  be  as  straight  as  poles,  more  trees 
can  be  utilized  for  this  purpose,  and  the  cutting  of  chestnut 
for  these  is  especially  profitable  near  water,  where  bridges, 
wharves,  etc.,  require  their  use.  One  of  the  chief  users  of 
piles  in  Connecticut  is  the  Hartford  &  New  York  Transpor- 
tation Company.  While  specifications  and  prices  for  piles 
vary  with  different  consumers,  those  of  this  company  may 
serve  as  an  example,  and  are  therefore  given  below : — 

No.  3  are  piles  12  inches  at  butt,  6  inches  at  tip.  ordinarily  straight, 
peeled  20  feet  from  butt,  6  cents  a  linear  foot. 

No.  2  are  piles  12  inches  at  4  feet  from  butt,  and  other  dimensions  the 
same,  7  cents  a  linear  foot. 

No.  1  are  piles  12  inches  to  14  inches  at  4  feet  from  butt,  other  dimen- 
sions the  same,  8  cents  a  linear  foot. 

Extras  are  good  straight  sticks,  16  inches  at  4  feet  from  butt,  other 
dimensions  the  same,  9  cents  a  linear  foot. 


ESTIMATING   TIMBER. 


23 


These  prices  are  for  piles  delivered  along  the  Connecticut 
River  ready  for  rafting. 

The  class  and  value  of  piles  which  can  be  taken  from 
chestnut  of  various  diameters  is  shown  in  Table  VI. 

TABLE  VI.— CHESTNUT  VOLUME  TABLE.    Length  of  piles  and 

GROSS  VALUE   DELIVERED. 


Diameter  Breast 
High  (inches). 

Length 
(feet). 

Class. 

Value. 

10     

29 

32 

34 

37 
40 
42 
44 
46 
48 

49 

51 

3 
3 

3 

2 
2 
I 
I 

I 

Extra 
Extra 
Extra 
Extra 
Extra 

$1.74 
1.92 
2.04 

2-59 
2.80 
3-36 

3-52 
3-68 
4-32 
4-41, 
4-59 
4.68 

4-77 
4-95 

II     

12     

13     

14    

15     

16     

17     

18    

19     

20 

21      

52 

53 
55 

22     

23     

Extra 

Of  course  many  trees  are  too  crooked  or  otherwise  defec- 
tive to  be  used  for  piles,  so  in  estimating  the  value  of  a  lot 
in  piles  a  distinction  is  made  in  measuring  the  trees  as  to 
whether  they  are  fit  for  piles  or  not. 

Telegraph  and  Telephone  Poles. 

The  specifications  of  the  various  telegraph  and  telephone 
companies  using  poles  vary  considerably,  and  the  prices  paid 
depend  largely  upon  the  supply  and  demand.  The  table  on 
page  24  is  based  on  the  specification  of  the  Western  Union 
Telegraph  Company: 

"For  winter  cut,  second  growth,  white  chestnut  poles,  full  eight  inches 
in  diameter  at  the  top,  the  following  prices  are  paid  F.O.B.  New  York, 
New  Haven  and  Hartford  Railroad : 


25  feet $1.70 

30     "    2.65 

35      "    3-65 

40     "    4-65 


45  feet $  5.75 

50      "    8.00 

55      "    10.00 

60      "    13.00 

65     "    15-00 


24         CONNECTICUT   EXPERIMENT    STATION    BULLETIN    1 54. 


TABLE   VII.— CHESTNUT   VOLUME   TABLE.     Length    of   tele- 
graph  POLES   AND   GROSS   VALUE   DELIVERED. 


Diameter  Breast  High 
(inches). 


II 
12 
13 

14 

IS 

16 

17 
18 

19 

20 
21 
22 

23 
24 

25 
26 

27 
28 
29 
30 


Length 
(feet). 


0-25 

25-30 
25-35 
30-40 
35-40 

35-45 
40-45 
40-50 
40-50 
45-50 
45-55 
50-60 
50-60 
55-6o 
55-6o 
55-6o 
55-6o 
55-6o 
55-6o 
55-65 


Range  of  Values. 


P    1.70 

I.7O-2.65 

I.7O-2.65-3.65 

2.65-3.65-4.65 

3-65-4-65 

3.65-4.65-5.75 

4-65-5-75 

4-65-5-75-S-oo 

4-65-5-75-S.oo 

5-75-8-oo 

5.75-8.00-10.00 

8.00-10.00-13.00 

8.00-10.00-13.00 

10.00-13.00 

10.00-13.00 

10.00-13.00 

10.00-13.00 

10.00-13.00 

10.00-13.00 

10.00-13. 00-15. 00 


Since  poles  are  taken  only  in  .five  foot  length  classes  it  is 
impracticable  to  give  the  average  length,  as  in  the  case  of 
piles,  where  odd  lengths  are  used.  Also,  since  the  length  of 
poles  which  can  be  secured  from  trees  of  different  diameters 
varies  a  great  deal  with  locality  and  condition  of  the  tree,  it  is 
considered  better  to  indicate  the  limits  of  pole  lengths  rather 
than  one  length.  Thus  from  trees  21  inches  in  diameter,  poles 
may  be  secured  45,  50  or  55  feet  long,  according  to  the  height 
of  the  tree,  with  values  of  $5.75,  $8.00  or  $10.00.  Only  a 
comparatively  small  number  of  trees  11  inches  in  diameter 
yield  poles,  so  this  is  expressed,  0-25  feet. 

The  largest  consumer  of  poles  in  this  State,  especially  of 
the  smaller  sizes,  is  the  Southern  New  England  Telephone 
Company.  This  company  has  no  fixed  price  for  poles,  as  it 
varies  with  supply  and  demand.  The  following  are  average 
prices  given  by  the  company : 

$3.00   for  poles  30  feet  long 
40 
45 


4.50 
6.50 
9.00 


50 


ESTIMATING    TIMBER. 


25 


These  prices  are  for  poles  delivered  along  telephone  lines. 
The  specifications  of  the  company  follow : 

1.  All  poles  shall  be  of  the  best  quality,  live,  sound  chestnut,  reasonably 
straight,  free  from  large  knots,  and  well  proportioned  from  butt  to  tip. 

2.  They  shall  be  furnished  peeled,  squared  off  at  both  tip  and  butt,  and 
all  knots  shall  be  trimmed  close. 

3.  Their  minimum  dimensions  shall  be  as  follows : 


Lengt 

h. 

E 

iameter 
at  Tip. 

Circ 

1  inference 
it  Tip. 

Circumference 
5  ft.  from  Kutt. 

25  feet 

7 

inches 

22 

inches 

34*A 

inches 

30 

' 

7 

" 

22 

" 

37/2 

it 

35 

1 

7 

" 

22 

" 

4i 

" 

40 

c 

7 

" 

22 

" 

44 

a 

45 

' 

7 

" 

22 

" 

47 

a 

50 

' 

7 

" 

22 

it 

50 

a 

55 

' 

7 

tt 

22 

a 

53^ 

" 

60 

' 

7 

a 

22 

" 

56/, 

" 

4.  Poles  will  be  subject  to  inspection  at  point  of  shipment,  or  upon 
receipt  as  called  for,  and  any  poles  failing  to  meet  the  requirements  of 
this  specification  will  be  rejected. 

5.  The  Southern  New  England  Telephone  Company  will  be  the  sole 
judge  in  questions  regarding  the  interpretation  of  this  specification. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  prices  paid  by  the  telegraph  and  tele- 
phone companies  for  small  poles  is  practically  the  same,  while 
the  prices  for  45  and  50  foot  poles  are  higher  in  case  of  the 
telephone  company.  The  difference  of  one  inch  in  diameter 
at  the  tip  is  hardly  enough  to  allow  longer  telephone  poles 
from  trees  of  given  diameters,  especially  when  the  circum- 
ference at  five  feet  from  the  ground  is  taken  into  consideration. 

Trees  must  be  pretty  straight  to  yield  poles,  and  the  propor- 
tion of  straight  trees  in  a  forest  varies  a  good  deal  in  different 
places. 

Chestnut  Lumber. 

Still  more  difficult  to  estimate  than  any  of  the  above  is  the 
amount  of  lumber  on  a  lot.  There  are  various  log  rules  by 
which  sawed  lumber  is  measured.  One  of  the  most  common 
of  these  is  the  Doyle  Rule.  This  rule  gives  too  small  results 
for  logs  of  small  diameter.  By  comparing  the  amount  of 
lumber  shown  by  the  rule  with  that  actually  cut,  factors  were 
obtained  by  which  the  rule  numbers  were  multiplied  for 
obtaining  the  results  shown  in  Table  VIII. 


26 


CONNECTICUT    EXPERIMENT    STATION    BULLETIN    1 54. 


TABLE   VIII.— CHESTNUT   VOLUME   TABLE.     Board   feet   and 

GROSS   VALUE    DELIVERED    AT    $l8.00    PER    M. 


Diameter  Breast 
High  (inches). 

Board 
Feet. 

Value 
delivered. 

Diameter  Breast 
High  (inches). 

Board, 
Feet. 

Value 
delivered. 

7 

8 

9..... 

10 

n 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

12 
22 

35 
47 
60 

75 

9i 

no 

131 
155 
180 
206 
235 

$    .22 

.40 

.63 

.85 

1.08 

i-35 
1.64 
1.98 
2.36 
2.79 
3-24 
3-71 
4-23 

20     , 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

26 

-2-1 

28 

29 

30 

31 

266 

298 

335 
372 
411 

451 
495 
54i 
587 
637 
688. 

74i 

$  4-79 

5-36 

6.03 

6.70 

7.40 

8.12 

8.91 

9-73 

10.57 

11.47 

12.38 

13-34 

In  Table  III  we  showed  the  application  of  Volume  Table  I 
to  a  given  forest  area.  The  following  table,  IX,  shows  the 
application  of  Tables  IV,  VI,  VII  and  VIII  to  the  same  area. 


TABLE  IX.— Yield  Table.     One-quarter  Acre,  Farmington,  Conn. 
See  Tables  II  and  III. 


m 

0! 

u 

ri^ 

v    . 

^ 

— 

JH 

T3 

<L>   y 

u 

£  " 

2 

'O 

a 

a 

^ 

£  1 

•£•5 

1-    C 

J3 

~°X 

*8   V 

*o.« 

"o 

!"S 

0 

| 

O  n 

0 

■S'--' 

0  "* 

v  *"* 

u 

?  V 

w 

13 

Em 

«£ 

c  0 

-a  in 
E« 

s 

.jo 

a 

3 

h  0 

J3  « 

E  " 

0  0 

3  he 

3  <J 

0*0 

3  M 

Q 

4 

Z 

Z 

z 

z 

f-l 

z 

> 

Z 

i-l 

6 

7 

5 

_ 







._ 



4 

48 

8 

5 

4 



4.8 

-- 



.- 



3 

66 

9 

8 

6 



7-2 

-- 



__ 



7 

245 

10 

5 

5 

6.0 

5-5 

4 

$6.96 

._ 



4 

188 

11 

1 

1 

1.9 

1.1 

1 

1.92 

1 

60 

12 

2 

1 

2.4 

1.0 

2 

4.08 

1 

$2.65 

2 

150 

13 

3 

3 

q.o 

3  0 

3 

7.77 

2 

5-30 

3 

273 

14 

2 

35 

2 
22 

7.2 

1.8 

I 

2.80 

1 

3.65 

1 

no 

Total 

26.5  + 

24.4  + 

11  = 

$23.53  + 

4  = 

$II.60  + 

25 

1 140  + 

2.08  CO 

rds 

2.74  cords 

7  piles  = 
2.74  cords 

13.51+ 

1. 18  cords 

ESTIMATING   TIMBER.  2J 

To  obtain  the  yield  per  acre  of  chestnut  in  this  forest  and 
the  gross  value  of  the  same  delivered,  the  above  results  are 
multiplied  by  four. 
This  acre  yields  : — 

Gross  value 
delivered. 

(cut   entirely   into   cordwood)    21.56   cords    (see  Table 

III)  of  chestnut  at  $3.00  $  64.68 

(cut  into  ties  and  cordwood) 

106  first  class  ties  at  42  cents $44-52 

97.6  second  class  ties  at  30  cents 29.28 

8.32  cords  at  $3.00 24.96 

—       98.76 

(cut  into  piles  and  cordwood) 

44  piles  $94.12 

10.96  cords   32.88 

127.00 

(cut  into  poles,  piles  and  cordwood) 

16  poles   $46.40 

28  piles  54-04 

10.96  cords 32.88 

133-32 

(cut  into  lumber  and  cordwood) 

4,560  board  feet  at  $18  per  M  $82.08 

4.72  cords  at  $3.00  14.16 

— 96.24 

The  above  figures  are  given  more  to  illustrate  the  use  of 
volume  tables  than  to  show  the  relative  values  from  cutting 
a  lot  into  the  various  products  mentioned.  To  do  this  it  is 
necessary  to  take  into  consideration  the  expense  of  manu- 
facturing these  products.  It  must  also  be  borne  in  mind  that 
a  greater  gross  receipt  could  be  obtained  than  any  here  given 
by  utilizing  each  tree  for  what  it  is  best  adapted,  in  which  case 
we  would  have  poles,  piles,  lumber,  ties  and  cordwood  from 
the  same  lot,  provided  there  was  a  market  for  all  these. 

The  use  of  volume  tables  does  furnish  an  indication  of 
what  chestnut  can  be  most  profitably  manufactured  into.  A 
comparison  of  Tables  IV  and  VIII  shows  that  a  first  class  tie 
is  equivalent  to  about  31  board  feet  of  lumber,  from  the  fact 
that  a  25  inch  tree  yields  14.4  ties,  equivalent  to  541  board 
feet.  Calculating  31  board  feet  to  the  tie  allows  32  ties  per 
one  thousand  board  feet,  while  most  lumbermen  allow  33, 
Tables  I  and  VIII  show  that  370  board  feet  of  lumber  will 
cut  one  cord  of  wood,  as  a  17  inch  tree  yields  .53  cords,  or  180 
board  feet;  a  23  inch  tree  yields  1.04  cords,  or  372  board 
feet,  and  a  31  inch  tree  yields  two  cords,  or  741  board  feet. 


28  CONNECTICUT    EXPERIMENT    STATION    BULLETIN    1 54. 

LUMBERING. 

As  there  are  no  virgin  forests  in  the  State,  and  no  large 
tracts  of  timber,  there  is  no  lumbering  in  the  sense  that  the 
term  is  used  in  the  north  woods  or  other  lumber  regions  of 
the  country.  Farmers  cut  off  their  own  lots,  in  many  cases, 
hewing  some  of  the  logs  into  ties,  cutting  some  into  poles  and 
the  rest  into  cordwood.  If  there  are  saw  logs,  they  may  haul 
these  to  a  water  mill,  of  which  there  are  many  scattered  about 
the  State  in  a  more  or  less  dilapidated  condition.  A  few  of 
these  mills  are  operated  steadily,  but  most  of  them  only  a 
few  days  in  the  year.  These  mills  usually  charge  the  farmer 
$4.00  a  thousand  feet  for  sawing  soft  woods  (including  chest- 
nut) and  $5.00  a  thousand  for  hardwoods. 

By  far  the  greater  part  of  the  lumbering  of  the  State  is 
done  with  portable  saw  mills.  These  mills  usually  have  a 
maximum  capacity  of  about  ten  thousand  feet  daily.  Most  of 
them  have  circular  saws,  but  there  are  one  or  two  in  the  State 
fitted  with  band  saw.  Most  of  the  lumbermen  of  the  State 
let  out  the  various  operations  to  contractors.  They  either  buy 
the  woodlots  outright  from  the  farmers,  or  they  buy  the 
timber  on  the  lot,  paying  usually  a  lump  sum  rather  than  a 
stumpage  price  per  unit  of  volume,  as  is  common  in  other 
sections.  Some  of  the  portable  mills  are  owned  and  operated 
by  the  lumbermen,  but  many  of  them  are  owned  by  men  who 
simply  take  contracts  for  sawing.  Other  contracts  are  made 
for  cutting  and  logging,  and  for  hauling  the  manufactured 
lumber.  The  cost  of  manufacture  to  the  lumberman  therefore 
depends  somewhat  on  whether  he  operates  his  own  mill  or 
whether  there  is  a  middle  man  who  is  also  dependent  on  a  profit. 

MAKING  AND   HAULING   LUMBER. 

Replies  to  questions  sent  to  some  of  the  largest  lumbermen 
of  the  State  indicate  that  the  cost  of  cutting,  logging  and  saw- 
ing chestnut  lumber  varies  from  $5.00  to  $6.25  a  thousand 
feet  B.  M.  The  latter  figure,  given  by  Ely  Brothers  of  Terry- 
ville,  is  the  sum  of  $1.25  for  cutting,  $2.00  for  logging,  and 
$3.00  for  sawing.  The  average  cost  of  the  three  operations 
together  is  $5.50.  The  cost  is,  of  course,  slightly  more  for 
small  timber  than  for  large.  The  cost  of  hauling  dry  chestnut 
lumber  three  miles  is  $1.50  per  M. ;   and  of  green  lumber,  $2.00. 


ESTIMATING   TIMBER.  29 

Some  place  the  latter  as  high  as  $2.50.  Three  miles  is  a  short 
haul,  the  distance  of  the  average  lot  from  the  market  being  five 
to  six  miles,  which  enables  only  one  trip  a  day,  thus  doubling 
the  cost  of  hauling.  So  the  cost  of  hauling  dry  lumber  this 
distance  would  be  $3.00,  and  of  green  lumber,  $4.00.  At  this 
distance  chestnut  wood  is  worthless.     It  costs  about  $1.00  per 

M.  to  pile  lumber. 

Summary. 

Cost  of  cutting,  logging  and  sawing  1,000  feet  B.M $5-50 

"      hauling  (green)   six  miles   4.00 

"      piling    1. 00 


$10.50 

The  market  price  of  chestnut  lumber  ranges  in  different 
parts  of  the  State,  and  according  to  quality,  from  $15.00  to 
$24.00  per  M.  Probably  $18.00,  the  price  paid  by  the  New 
York,  New  Haven  and  Hartford  Railroad  for  switch  ties  this 
year,  is  an  average  price.  This  leaves  a  profit  of  $7.50  per 
M.  over  all  operations,  from  which,  however,  cost  of  stumpage 
must  be  deducted  in  the  case  of  a  purchased  lot. 

MAKING  AND  HAULING  TIES. 

Sawing  ties  is  slightly  more  expensive  than  hewing.  The 
average  cost  of  cutting,  $0.04;  logging,  $0.05;  sawing, 
$0.05, — brings  the  total  cost  up  to  $0.14  to  $0.15  and  an  addi- 
tional cent  for  peeling,  making  $0.16.  The  cost  of  hewing 
varies  from  $0.08  to  $0.10  apiece.  But  even  for  small  logs 
it  pays  better  to  meet  the  extra  expense  of  sawing  where 
there  is  a  saw  mill,  because  considerable  lumber  can  be  sawed 
from  the  sides  of  logs,  which  is  wasted  when  the  ties  are 
hewn.  The  cost  of  hauling  32  sawed  ties  is  practically  the 
same  as  for  1,000  feet  of  lumber,  i.e.  about  $0.06  apiece  for  three 
miles,  or  $0.10  to  $0.12  for  six  miles,  but  for  hewn  ties  a  little 
more,  probably  $0.08  apiece  for  three  miles,  or  $0.15  for  six 

miles. 

Summary. 

Cost  of  cutting,  logging,  sawing  ties  $0.15 

Hauling  six  miles   12 

Total  cost    $0.27 

Cost  of  cutting  and  hewing  ties   $0.10 

Hauling  six  miles   15 

Total  cost    $0.25 


30         CONNECTICUT   EXPERIMENT   STATION    BULLETIN    154. 

In  both  cases  the  profit  depends  upon  the  class  of  ties 
obtained.  The  New  York,  New  Haven  and  Hartford  Railroad 
pays  42  cents  apiece  for  first  class  ties  and  30  cents  for  seconds. 
The  cost  of  manufacture  and  hauling-  are,  of  course,  less 
for  second  class  ties,  but  the  figures  given  are  average  for  both 
classes  together,  as  they  occur  in  Connecticut.  If  all  ties  cut 
were  firsts,  the  net  profit  from  32,  the  equivalent  of  1,000  board 
feet,  would  be  $5.12.  If  they  were  all  seconds,  the  profit  would 
be  only  $1.28.  In  actual  practice  both  classes  are  represented, 
and  the  profit  is  between  these  figures. 

MAKING  AND  HAULING  PILES  AND  POLES. 

The  cost  of  manufacturing  poles  and  piles  varies  somewhat 
with  the  season,  because  they  are  more  easily  peeled  in  the 
spring  than  at  other  times.  A  common  price  for  cutting  and 
peeling  poles  is  one  cent  a  linear  foot.  Hauling  is  also  a  vari- 
able expense.  For  a  three  mile  haul  the  following  figures  are 
given  by  a  man  who  makes  a  business  of  furnishing  poles : — 

Length  of  pole  (feet).  Cost  of  hauling. 

25  $0.30-40 

30  .60-75 

35  .90-1.00 

40  1.25 

50  2.00 

55-6o  2.50 

65  3-00 

For  a  haul  of  six  miles  these  figures  would  be  about  double. 

Summary. 
Length    of    poles 

(feet),    25       30       35       40       45       50        55         60        65 

Value       delivered 

telegraph   poles,  $1.70    2.65     3.65     4.65     5.7S     8.00     10.00     13.00     15.00 
Cost    of     cutting, 

peeling,  hauling 

six  miles 85     1.50    2.15     2.90    3.50    4.50      5-00      5.60      6.65 

Net  profit  ...       .85     1. 15     1.50     1.75     2.25     3.50      5.00      7.40      8.35 
MAKING    AND    HAULING    C0RDW00D. 

The  cost  of  cutting  cordwood  varies  with  the  kind  and  size 
of  wood  between  90  cents  and  $1.25  a  cord.  Hauling  six  miles 
costs  about  $1.50  to  $2.00  a  cord,  so  that  the  total  expense  of 
cutting  and  hauling  amounts  to  between  $2.40  and  $3.25  a 
cord,  and  as  chestnut  wood  rarely  sells  for  over  $3.00  a  cord, 
it  seldom  pays  to  cut  it  at  this  distance  from  a  market. 


RELATIVE    PROFIT    FROM    TIES,    POLES    AND    TIMBER. 


31 


RELATIVE  PROFIT  FROM  TIES,  PILES,  POLES  AND 

LUMBER. 

With  the  data  at  hand  as  to  the  quantity  of  various  products 
which  can  be  secured  from  chestnut  trees  of  different  sizes, 
and  the  cost  of  manufacturing  the  same,  it  is  a  simple  matter 
to  draw  conclusions  as  to  relative  profit  from  ties,  lumber,  poles, 
piles  and  cordwood.  It  has  already  been  shown  that  there  is 
generally  no  profit  in  chestnut  cordwood  where  the  lot  is  over 
five  miles  from  market.  For  a  farmer  owning  a  lot  at  this 
distance  there  should  be  a  profit  of  $7.50  per  thousand  board 
feet  where  lumber  sells  for  $18.00  per  thousand.  From  32 
first  class  ties,  the  equivalent  of  1,000  board  feet,  the  profit  is 
only  $5.12.  The  relative  profits  from  poles,  lumber  and  ties 
can  only  be  shown  by  comparison  of  different  sized  trees.  The 
following  table  gives  the  average  net  profit  from  ties  of 
various  diameters  standing  in  woodlots  five  or  six  miles  from 
a  market ;  in  other  words,  the  stumpage  value, — when  these 
trees  are  cut  into  ties,  piles,  poles  and  lumber.  (See  Tables 
IV,  VI,  VII,  VIII.) 

TABLE  X. — Chestnut  stumpage  values  at  six  miles  from  a  market. 


Diameter 

Stumpage             Stu 

mpage 

Stumpage 

Stumpage 

Breast  High 

value  for               va 

ue  for 

value  for 

value  for  lumber 

(inches). 

ties.                       p 

iles. 

telegraph  poles. 

at  $18  delivered. 

6 

7 

$0.09 

8 

$0.05 

.16 

9 

•  05 

.26 

10 

.23           $0 

37 

•35 

11 

•35 

36 

$0.85 

•45 

12 

.42 

10 

•85-$i.i5 

.56 

13 

•52 

00 

.85-  1. 15-$  1. 50 

.68 

14 

.61 

00 

1.1S-  1.50-  1.7s 

.82 

IS 

■7^ 

00 

1-50-  1-75 

.98 

16 

.81 

00 

1.50-  1.75-  2.25 

1. 16 

17 

.91 

00 

1.75-  2.25 

i-35 

18 

1.02 

00 

1.75-  2.25-  3.50 

i-55 

19 

1. 14 

00 

1-75-  2.25-  3.50 

1.76 

20 

1.26 

00 

2.25-  3.50 

2.00 

21 

1.42 

00 

2.25-  3.50-  5.00 

2.24 

22 

1.60              lc 

ss 

3.50-  5-co-  7.40 

2.51 

23 

1.80              lc 

ss 

3.50-  5-00-  7.40 

2-79 

24 

2.02 

5.00-  7.40 

3.08 

25 

2.26 

5.00-  7.40 

3-38 

26 

2-55 

5.00-  7.40 

3-7i 

27 

2.80 

5.00-  7.40 

4.06 

28 

....            J 

5.00-  7.40 

4.40 

29 

.... 

5.00-  7.40 

4.78 

30 

.... 

5.00-  7.40-  8.35 

5.16 

31 

1     -    .. 

5-55     . 

32  CONNECTICUT    EXPERIMENT    STATION    BULLETIN    1 54. 

CONCLUSIONS  AS  TO  RELATIVE  VALUE  OF  DIFFERENT  PRODUCTS. 

Several  important  conclusions  may  be  drawn  from  the  pre- 
ceding table.  First  of  all  is  the  fact  that  straight  trees  pay 
considerably  better  cut  into  poles  than  in  any  other  way, 
while  there  is  no  profit  in  piles  six  miles  from  the  market  at 
the  prices  mentioned.  Lumber,  of  course,  pays  better  than 
ties.  If  this  were  more  generally  understood  there  would  be 
no  sawed  ties  on  the  market  until  prices  are  raised  to  corre- 
spond with  those  for  lumber.  Of  course  hewn  ties  are  the  most 
profitable  utilization  the  farmer  can  make  of  his  more  crooked 
trees  in  the  absence  of  a  sawmill.  They  will  always  be  one 
of  the  chief  products  of  the  improvement  thinnings  previously 
described.  Stumpage  values  in  the  above  table  should  be 
understood  to  mean  the  profit  the  farmer  can  derive  if  he  acts 
as  his  own  lumberman.  He  cannot  expect  to  receive  these 
prices  for  the  stumpage  from  lumbermen,  since  they  in  turn 
must  make  their  profit. 

RATE  OF  GROWTH  OF  CHESTNUT. 
In  considering  the  rate  of  growth  of  the  chestnut,  it  is 
necessary  to  bear  in  mind  that  chestnut  has  two  methods  of 
reproducing  itself  which  materially  affect  the  rate  of  growth. 
Trees  grown  from  the  nut  make  very  little  headway  for  the 
first  few  years,  since  they  have  to  first  develop  a  root  system. 
Those  which  sprout  from  old  stumps  obtain  their  nourishment 
through  the  old  root  system,  so  that  they  often  grow  six  feet 
high  the  first  year.  On  the  other  hand,  trees  grown  from  nuts 
are  longer  lived  and  grow  better  in  old  age  than  do  those 
coming  from  sprouts. 

Height  Growtpi. 
It  is  often  difficult,  especially  in  the  case  of  single  trees,  to 
distinguish  nut  grown  trees  (seedlings)  from  sprout  grown 
(sprouts).  In  the  following  table,  XI,  the  third  and  fifth 
columns  show  the  number  of  trees  belonging  to  each  class 
which  were  measured  for  this  study  of  growth.  It  will  be 
noticed  that  practically  no  seedlings  were  measured  less  than 
forty  years  old,  while  the  majority  of  the  sprouts  were  less  than 
sixty  years  old.  This  is  no  doubt  largely  due  to  the  fact  that 
the  latter  class  do  not  live  to  an  old  age  as  do  the  first  class. 
It  may  seem  peculiar  that  the  sprouts  analyzed  form  them- 
selves into  two  distinct  age  groups ;    one  about  25  years  old, 


RATE   OF   GROWTH    OF    CHESTNUT. 


33 


and  the  other  45  to  55  years.  This  is  probably  not  so  much 
indicative  of  the  age  of  chestnut  through  the  State  as  of  the 
fact  that  most  of  the  analyses  happened  to  be  taken  in  even- 
aged  stands  of  these  ages.  Up  to  the  age  of  55  the  sprouts  are 
considerably  higher  than  the  seedling  trees,  but  from  that  age  on, 
the  latter  have  greater  height.  In  both  cases  height  growth  is 
practically  at  a  standstill  after  the  age  of  seventy. 

Table  XI  gives  the  average  height  of  sprouts  and  seedlings 
of  various  ages  from  20  to  105  years. 


TABLE    XL — Age-height  table.     Chestnut. 


Age 
(years). 


20 
25 
30 

35 
40 

45 
50 

55 
60 

65 
70 

75 
80 

85 
90 

95 
100 

105 


Trees  grown  from  nuts. 

Height  No.  of  trees 

feet.  measured. 


54 
60 

64 
68 

7i 
73 
75 
76 
77 
78 
79 
79 
79 
79 


11 
16 

9 
11 

9 

7 
2 

4 
7 
6 
2 
6 
12 

107 


Tree  grown  from  sprouts. 

Height  No.  of  trees 

feet.  measured. 


36 

5 

45 

75 

52 

6 

57 

5 

62 

8 

65 

25 

67 

27 

69 

20 

70 

2 

7i 

3 

72 

9 

73 

2 

74 

75 

2 

75 

5 

76 

1 

77 

2 

77 

2 

199 


DIAMETER  GROWTH. 

Most  of  the  difference  in  diameter  growth  between  sprout 
and  seedling  chestnut  occurs  during  the  first  decade.  In  the 
trees  measured,  varying  from  20  to  105  years  in  age,  little 
difference  could  be  distinguished  beyond  this  early  period 
between  the  two  classes.  In  fact,  the  increased  growth  of  the 
seedlings  seems  to  compensate  for  the  early  start  of  the  sprouts. 

The  average  age  of  chestnut  for  different  diameters  from  3 
inches  to  30  inches  is  given  in  Table  XII. 
3 


34         CONNECTICUT   EXPERIMENT    STATION    BULLETIN    1 54. 


TABLE    XII. — Chestnut.    Average  age  for  trees  of  different 

DIAMETERS. 


Diameter  Breast 
High  (inches). 


3- 
4- 
5- 
6. 

7- 
8. 

9- 

10. 
11 . 

12. 

13- 

14. 

IS- 

16. 


Age 

(years) 


19 
22 

25 
29 
32 

35 
39 
42 

45 
48 

5i 
55 
58 
61 


Diameter  Breast 
High  (inches). 


17- 

18. 
19. 
20. 
21. 
22. 

23- 

24. 

25- 

26. 
27. 
28. 
29. 
30. 


Age 

(years). 


64 

68 
7i 
74 
78 
81 


9i 

94 

97 

101 

104 

108 


It  will  be  seen  from  the  above  table  that  the  average  length 
of  time  required  for  chestnut  to  grow  one  inch  in  diameter  is 
three  years,  and  that  this  growth  is  fairly  uniform  up  to  thirty 
inches  in  diameter. 

One  must  not  make  the  mistake  of  thinking  that  this  table 
can  be  turned  about.  The  average  diameter  of  trees  108  years 
old  would  not  be  30  inches,  etc. 

A  uniform  diameter  growth  means  a  constantly  increasing 
growth  in  volume  and  value,  for  a  tree  ten  inches  in  diameter 
growing  one-third  of  an  inch  a  year  produces  much  more  wood 
than  a  tree  five  inches  and  growing  at  the  same  rate. 

The  following  table  shows,  of  course,  that  the  greatest  per- 
centage of  increase  in  growth  is  during  the  early  life  of  the  tree, 
while  it  is  still  small ;  and  that  this  percentage  falls  off  at  a 
uniform  rate  until  it  gets  as  low  as  two  per  cent.  For  volume 
alone  it  would  not  pay  to  leave  a  chestnut  tree  after  it  reaches 
the  diameter  of  19  inches,  when  its  rate  of  growth  falls  below 
four  per  cent,  per  annum  compound  interest.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  however,  trees  which  will  yield  poles  can  profitably  be 
left  until  they  reach  the  diameter  of  25  inches  if  they  are  in 
thrifty  condition.  The  grade  of  material  taken  from  large 
trees  is  so  much  higher  than  that  taken  from  small  trees  that 
pole  trees  increase  in  value  up  to  this  size  at  the  rate  of  six 
per  cent,  compound  interest.  This  is  not  a  steady  increase, 
because  the  increase  in  price  of  poles  is  irregular. 


RATE   OF    GROWTH    OF    CHESTNUT. 


35 


TABLE   XIII. — Increase  in  volume  and  value   of   chestnut,  'and 

THE   RATE   OF   INCREASE   AT   DIFFERENT    PERIODS. 


Diameter 
Breast 
High      . 
(inches). 

Volume 
in  cu   ft. 

(See 
Table  I.) 

Annual*  per- 
centage of 
increase  in 
volume. 

Stumpage 

value  at  6  miles 

from  market. 

(See  Table  X.) 

Class  of 
material. 

Annual*  per- 
centage of 
increase  in 
value. 

3 

•7 

4 

2. 

42.2 

5 

3-5 

194 

6 

5-2 

I4.I 

7 

7-2 

II.4 

.09 

lumber 

8 

10. 

II-3 

.16 

u 

23-9 

9 

12. 

6.2 

.26 

" 

17-5 

10 

IS- 

7-7 

•37 

pile 

12.4 

ii 

19. 

8.1 

.85 

pole 

31-9 

12 

23- 

6.5 

I-I5 

" 

10.5 

13 

27. 

5-4 

.... 

H 

31- 

4-7 

1.50 

pole 

6.9 

IS 

37- 

-      6.08 

16 

42. 

4-3 

i-75 

pole 

2.5 

17 

48. 

4.6 

18 

55- 

4-5 

2.25 

pole 

4.2 

19 

62. 

4.07 

20 

69. 

3-6 

3-50 

pole 

7-6 

21 

77- 

3-7 

22 

85. 

3-3 

5.00 

pole 

6.1 

23 

93- 

3-04 

24 

102. 

3-1 

7.40 

pole 

6.7 

25 

112. 

3-i 



26 

122. 

2.9 

pole 

27 

132. 

2.6 

28 

143- 

2.6 

pole 

29 

154- 

2.5 

30 

164. 

2.1 

8.35 

pole 

.69 

31 

175- 

2.1 

*  Obtained  from  the  formula:  l  =  arn^r  where  a  =  first  term,  /=last 
term,  n  =  number  of  terms.     Thus  2.0  =  .yr3  (Table  XII  shows  that  it 


requires  3  years  to  grow  one  inch)   r=  \f  —  =  42.2 


These  conclusions  have  practically  nothing  to  do  with  deter- 
mining when  a  woodlot  should  be  cut.  We  have  already  stated 
that  most  sprout  lots  should  be  cut  by  the  time  they  are  fifty 
years  old,  but  at  that  age  there  are  few  trees  twenty  inches  in 
diameter.  The  reason  for  this  conclusion  is  that  the  woodlot 
as  a  whole  deteriorates  after  that  age  more  than  the  individual 


36         CONNECTICUT   EXPERIMENT   STATION    BULLETIN    1 54. 

trees  increase.  It  may  often  be  advisable  to  leave  a  few  chest- 
nut seedlings  per  acre  along  with  oak  and  hickory  at  the  time 
of  the  final  harvest,  as  has  been  suggested. 

Throughout  the  woods  of  the  State  there  are  individual  chest- 
nut trees  of  different  age  and  size  from  that  of  the  surrounding 
woods.  The  owner  often  wishes  to  know  what  policy  to  pursue 
in  regard  to  these  individual  trees. 

If  they  are  to  be  used  for  fuel  alone,  they  should  be  cut  when 
they  are  20  inches  in  diameter. 

If  sound  and  straight  enough  for  poles,  they  may  profitably 
be  left  until  25  inches  in  diameter. 

Having  decided  that  chestnut  increases  in  value  up  to  the 
diameter  of  25  inches  under  good  health  conditions,  the  ques- 
tion naturally  arises  whether  chestnut  begins  to  decay  before 
this  period,  for  if  so,  this  would  be  a  reason  for  cutting  trees 
at  smaller  sizes. 

The  following  table  shows  the  proportion  of  sprouts  and 
seedlings  partially  decayed  in  the  trees  measured  for  this  study. 

TABLE   XIV. 


Sprouts. 
Number  of  Trees. 

Per  cent, 
decayed. 

Seedlings. 
Number  of  Trees. 

Diameter 
(inches). 

Trees 
sound. 

Partially 
decayed. 

Trees 
sound. 

Partially 
decayed. 

Per  cent, 
decayed. 

3-5 

42 

15 

26 

6-10 

66 

15 

l8 

12 

0 

0 

11-15 

56 

24 

3D 

46 

6 

II 

16-20 

8 

5 

38 

28 

7 

20 

21-25 

4 

8 

66 

12 

8 

40 

26-30 

2 

3 

60 

6 

2 

25 

31-35 

0 

1 

100 

2 

1 

33 

178 

71 

28 

I06 

24 

19 

This  table  shows  a  much  greater  proportion  of  sprouts 
affected  by  disease  than  seedlings,  especially  among  the  smaller 
sizes.  This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  fungus  diseases  from  the  old 
stumps  are  liable  to  grow  up  into  the  trees  sprouting  from  them. 

The  table  also  shows  that  both  sprouts  and  seedlings  have  a 
very  much  greater  proportion  of  disease  as  they  reach  the 
diameter  of  20  inches.  These  figures  indicate  that  it  is  safer 
policy,  as  a  rule,  to  cut  trees  when  they  reach  this  diameter, 
than  to  leave  them.     As  the  average  age  for  this  size  is  75 


SPROUTING    OF    CHESTNUT.  37 

years,  this  corresponds  fairly  well  with  the  age  at  which  chest- 
nut has  been  shown  to  reach  its  main  height  growth. 

Lest  it  should  seem  that  28  per  cent,  and  19  per  cent,  are 
large  proportions  to  be  diseased,  it  should  be  remarked  that 
many  of  these  are  just  beginning  to  decay,  the  remainder  being 
absolutely  sound  throughout. 

SPROUTING  OF  CHESTNUT. 

The  sprouting  ability  of  chestnut  apparently  does  not  follow 
any  regular  rules.  It  seems  to  sprout  equally  well  in  all  parts 
of  the  State  and  at  various  altitudes  where  the  species  exists, 
provided  there  is  plenty  of  fair  soil.  A  study  was  made  of 
the  question  from  various  aspects,  but  without  results.  An 
attempt  was  made  to  discover  whether  seedlings  or  sprouts 
when  cut  produced  the  largest  number  of  sprouts.  The  num- 
ber of  sprouts  from  seedlings  varied  from  2  to  145,  while  those 
from  sprouts  varied  from  1  to  123,  most  stumps  having  from 
two  to  ten  sprouts.  In  fact,  sprouts  from  sprouts  were  found 
to  have  undiminished  ability 'for  resprouting.  This  is  evident 
all  through  Connecticut,  where  we  find  thrifty  trees  of  the 
fourth  or  fifth  generation  from  the  nut.  Instead  of  the  number 
of  sprouts  diminishing  with  the  age  of  the  mother  stump,  as 
would  be  expected,  more  sprouts  were  found  from  old  stumps. 
For  example,  the  stump  which  sent  up  145  sprouts  was  in 
years  old,  and  one  which  had  122  sprouts  was  75  years  old. 
These  figures  might  lead  to  the  belief  that  it  was  simply  a 
matter  of  the  size  of  the  original  stump  and  the  room  it  afforded 
for  sprouts.  While  it  is  a  fact  that  the  small  stumps  do  not 
have  great  numbers  of  sprouts,  it  is  also  a  fact  that  many  of 
the  large  stumps  have  only  a  few  sprouts.  Neither  does  the 
soundness  and  recent  growth  of  the  mother  tree  have  any 
apparent  effect  on  the  number  of  sprouts,  one  tree  which  had 
been  growing  only  one  twenty-eighth  of  an  inch  in  diameter  a 
year  having  145  sprouts,  while  another  growing  at  the  same 
slow  rate  had  only  two  sprouts.  Of  course  stumps  largely 
decayed  have  fewer  sprouts. 

No  rules  can  be  laid  down,  therefore,  regarding  the  cutting 
of  woodlots  for  sprout  reproduction  except  those  which  relate 
to  the  after  development  of  the  sprouts. 
4 


38         CONNECTICUT   EXPERIMENT    STATION    BULLETIN    1 54. 

BEST  DEVELOPMENT  OF  CHESTNUT. 

Of  not  less  importance  than  the  average  development  of 
chestnut,  which  has  hitherto  been  discussed,  is  the  development 
which  it  attains  under  more  favorable  conditions.  Probably 
the  largest  chestnut  in  Connecticut  as  regards  girth  is  in  Bran- 
ford,  and  has  a  circumference  of  23^  feet  at  its  smallest  point 
below  the  branches. 

The  largest  chestnut  of  known  age  was  three  feet  in  diameter 
at  breast  height,  and  98  feet  high.  This  was  no  years  old,  and 
scaled  1,225  board  feet.  It  grew  in  Hampton,  Conn.  It  made 
its  best  growth  between  the  ages  of  40  and  70  years. 

The  oldest  tree  analyzed  was  in  Washington,  Conn.,  and  was 
135  years  old.  This  was  only  21  inches  in  diameter  and  68 
feet  high.  It  was  unsound,  but  sawed  into  eleven  ties.  Of 
course  the  Branford  tree  must  be  very  much  older  than  this, 
probably  over  250  years,  and  other  large  trees  indicate  very 
old  age.  Evidently  the  scarcity  of  old  chestnut  is  due  to  cutting 
rather  than  to  any  weakness  on  the  part  of  the  species. 

TABLE  XV. — Average  and  minimum  length  of  time  required  for  a 

CHESTNUT    TREE    TO    PRODUCE   VARIOUS    NUMBERS    OF    TrES. 


Number  of  ties 
per  tree. 


10. 
II. 


Average  Minimum 

ge  of  tree,      age  of  tree. 


30 
36 
42 

47 
52 
56 
60 
63 
65 
68 
70 


Kind  of 
tree. 


21  Sprout 

21  Sprout 

26  Seedling 

28  Sprout 

38  Sprout 

42  Seedling 

47  Seedling 

50  Seedling — 2  trees  alike 

52  Seedling 

62  Sprout 

50  ? 


This  table  is  of  more  interest  as  showing  the  minimum  age 
at  which  various  numbers  of  ties  can  be  raised  by  individual 
trees,  than  for  the  average  age.  The  average  age  of  trees 
producing  six  ties  is  given  here  as  56  years,  but  this  is  a  vari- 
able figure,  depending  entirely  on  the  trees  analyzed,  which 
happen  to  produce  six  ties.  The  fact  that  eleven  ties  have 
been  produced  by  a  tree  in  fifty  years  is  definite,  and  shows 
what  the  species  is  capable  of  doing. 


SUMMARY.  39 

It  will  be  noticed  that  these  exceptional  trees  are  evenly 
divided  between  sprouts  and  seedlings.  They  were  all  domi- 
nant trees,  i.e.  they  stood  alone,  not  being  shaded  by  other 
trees.  The  21  year  tree  which  produced  two  ties  had  a  crown 
15  X  20  feet,  occupying  about  254  square  feet.  So  it  would 
be  possible  to  grow  171  such  trees  per  acre.  This  was  a  sprout 
from  a  seedling  tree.  The  sprout  which  produced  four  ties  in 
28  years  was  the  only  one  from  its  mother  stump.  It  scaled 
83  feet  of  lumber.  The  sprout  which  gave  five  ties  in  38  years 
would  have  sawn  into  130  board  feet,  or  made  a  pile  forty  feet 
long.  It  grew  with  one  other  sprout.  The  62  year  sprout, 
sawing  into  ten  ties,  scaled  284  feet  B.  M. 

Of  the  seedlings,  the  one  producing  three  ties  in  26  years 
scaled  75  feet  B.  M.,  and  had  a  crown  occupying  800  square 
feet,  so  that  only  54  to  the  acre  would  be  possible.  This  tree 
grew  in  diameter  1.2  inches  in  the  past  year.  The  tree  42 
years  old  scaled  six  ties,  or  206  feet  B.  M.,  or  made  a  pile 
fifty  feet  long.  In  the  decade  between  its  seventeenth  and 
twenty-seventh  year  it  increased  its  diameter  from  8  to  14 
inches. 

SUMMARY. 

In  the  foregoing  -we  have  tried  to  indicate  wherein  forestry  differs 
from  the  usual  method  of  handling  the  woodlot,  and  have  shown  what 
may  be  expected  as  financial  results  from  such  treatment.  Forestry  is 
particularly  a  good  investment  for  the  farmer,  or  for  the  owner  of  a 
large  estate  (a  class  which  is  growing  in  Connecticut),  for  the  manu- 
facturing company  which  requires  a  permanent  supply  of  wood,  for  a 
railroad  company  requiring  a  permanent  supply  of  ties,  or  for  a  water 
company  which  has  woodland  for  the  protection  of  its  watershed,  and 
last,  but  especially,  for  the  State.  It  is  not  to  be  advised  for  the  lum- 
berman who  buys  only  the  timber  without  the  land,  for  he  cannot  make 
a  sacrifice  for  the  benefit  of  some  one  else. 

Almost  every  farmer  owns  a  woodlot.  These  lots  are  usually  left  to 
care  for  themselves,  the  farmer  cutting  small  sections  clear  when  he 
desires  wood.  As  soon  as  the  trees  bear  one  or  two  ties  he  cuts  the 
wood  off  or  sells  it,  usually  for  less  than  it  is  worth,  to  a  lumberman. 
He  is  particularly  able  to  make  thinnings  profitably,  because  he  can  do 
the  work  himself  at  a  time  of  the  year  when  he  is  least  busy,  and  because 
he  can  use  the  material  removed  in  his  own  household.  Farmers 
should  also  appreciate  that  straight  trees  pay  best  made  into  poles, 
and  that  lumber  is  more  profitable  than  ties,  and  should  carefully  esti- 
mate the  value  of  their  lots  before  selling  to  lumbermen. 


40         CONNECTICUT   EXPERIMENT    STATION    BULLETIN    1 54. 

Land  in  Connecticut  is  probably  as  cheap  now  as  it  ever  will  be, 
and  many  good  investments  can  be  made  in  land  covered  with  thrifty, 
rapid-growing  sprouts.  The  State  has  purchased  1000  acres  of  such 
land  in  Portland  at  an  average  cost  of  $1.64  an  acre.  Many  of  these 
lots  purchased  at  $4.00  will  be  worth  $40.00  an  acre,  in  twenty-five 
years  at  present  prices.  It  is  probable  that  the  price  of  chestnut  and 
our  other  native  woods  ■will  increase  considerably  as  timber  in  other 
parts  of  the  country  becomes  scarce.  Men  who  invest  in  this  kind  ot 
property  can  considerably  increase  their  interest  by  applying  forestry 
methods. 

Some  manufacturing  companies  require  so  much  wood  annually  that 
they  are  obliged  to  import  much  of  it  from  great  distances,  even  from 
other  States.  The  woods  in  the  neighborhood  of  Waterbury  have  been 
cut  off  so  frequently  and  have  been  so  damaged  by  fire  that  their  pro- 
ductivity has  been  seriously  impaired.  A  certain  manufacturing  com- 
pany in  that  region  uses  16,000  cords  of  wood  per  annum.  This  is  the 
annual  product  of  fully  32,000  acres  of  such  land  as  forms  most  of  the 
Naugatuck  ■watershed.  Yet  it  is  perfectly  possible  to  raise  this  16,000 
cords  annually  on  25,000  acres,  and  a  tract  of  that  size  could  probably 
be  purchased  for  $75,000  within  a  few  miles  of  the  factory.  The 
interest  on  $75,000  at  four  per  cent,  and  taxes  at  two  per  cent,  amount 
to  $4,500.  The  cost  of  16,000  cords  at  $3.00  (plus  $1.00  for  transporta- 
tion) is  $64,000.  The  cost  of  manufacturing  and  transportation  could 
not  bring  the  expense  up  nearly  to  these  figures,  so  the  desirability  ol 
forestry  in  such  a  case  depends  entirely  on  the  permanency  of  a 
business. 

It  is  becoming  more  and  more  difficult  for  railroad  companies  to 
secure  ties,  and  the  price  is  rising  already.  The  New  York,  New 
Haven  and  Hartford  Railroad  uses  1,500,000  ties  annually,  which  cost 
fully  half  a  million  dollars.  These  are  mostly  grown  in  Connecticut  and 
Rhode  Island.  As  it  is  undoubtedly  possible  to  raise  eight  ties  per  acre 
per  annum  on  most  land  in  the  State  under  good  management,  it  would 
require  187,000  acres  to  continually  supply  this  company  with  ties. 
This  could  probably  be  purchased  in  different  parts  of  the  State  for 
$935,000.  Four  per  cent  interest  on  this  amount  is  $37,400,  and  taxes 
at  two  per  cent,  would  amount  to  $18,700,  and  the  cost  of  maintenance 
and  manufacturing  would  still  leave  a  large  saving  as  compared  to  an 
annual  expenditure  of  $500,000.  The  profitableness  of  forestry  in 
this  case  is  especially  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  the  company  would 
be  assured  of  a  permanent  supply  of  ties. 

Water  companies  could  derive  a  regular  income  by  a  series  of  thin- 
nings in  their  woodlots,  planned  in  a  systematic  way  so  that  by  the 
time  the  whole  tract  had  been  gone  over  once  the  lots  first  thinned 
would  be  ready  to  thin  again. 

For  the  State  the  proposition  is  better  than  for  any  other  body,  for 
the  State  is  supposedly  a  permanent  organization  which  must  always 
require  an  income.  European  nations  derive  considerable  portions  of 
their  running  expenses  from  such  state  forests,  and  our  own  national 


SUMMARY.  41 

government  and  some  of  the  States  are  entering  upon  the  policy  of 
forest  ownership.  Besides  yielding  a  permanent  revenue,  these  forests 
will  supply  larger  timber  than  those  under  private  ownership,  and  will 
thus  be  a  benefit  to  the  communities  in  which  they  are  located.  Con- 
necticut has  barely  entered  upon  this  policy  of  State  ownership,  having 
acquired,  as  an  experiment,  1000  acres  in  Portland  and  300  acres  in 
Union. 

ASSISTANCE   GIVEN    TO   WOODLAND   OWNERS. 

Two  years  ago  the  Experiment  Station  through  the  forester 
issued  a  circular  offering  expert  advice  on  the  treatment  of 
woodland  to  any  land  owners  of  the  State,  without  other  expense 
to  them  than  incidental  traveling  and  board. 

The  character  of  the  advice  given  depends  upon  the  size  of 
the  tract  and  the  class  of  owner.  To  the  farmer  with  a  woodlot 
of  moderate  size  the  forester  usually  gives  a  few  hours  of 
instruction  in  selecting  trees  to  be  thinned,  marking  the  trees  on 
a  few  acres  in  the  presence  of  the  owner. 

For  a  tract  of  over  one  hundred  acres  owned  by  an  individual 
or  corporation  a  detailed  plan  of  management  is  drawn  up 
covering  work  for  a  series  of  years,  usually  ten  years.  If  the 
plan  is  satisfactory  to  the  owner,  the  forester  supervises  each 
year  the  marking  of  the  trees  to  be  removed. 

Application  for  assistance  of  this  kind  should  be  sent  to  the 
forester,  whose  office  is  at  the  Experiment  Station,  New  Haven. 


5    39      0  6 


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